


Intercept

by Plantress



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Drama, F/M, Family Drama, Gen, Romance, meet the parents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-05-13
Updated: 2014-09-16
Packaged: 2017-11-05 07:53:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 77,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/404074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Plantress/pseuds/Plantress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post ME3.  While waiting for her daughter to recover in the hospital after the final battle, Hannah Shepard meets Garrus Vakarian.  Running into her daughter's alien boyfriend at her bedside was the last thing she expected to happen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

There were so many machines in the room that their soft beeping drowned out the breathing of the patient they were monitoring. Commander Lilliana Shepard, hero of the galaxy, the one who enabled them to win the war and drive back the Reapers, lay in the center of them all amidst a tangle of wires. 

Her mother stood at the foot of her bed, her hand resting on the edge as she watched the gentle rise and fall of her daughter's chest. It was the only sign that she was still alive. Admiral Hannah Shepard knew that the machines around her would be able to tell her the same, but she didn't know what the various readouts meant and quite frankly she did not care. Her daughter was breathing on her own now. That was enough to tell her there was an improvement. 

She picked up her hand and walked around the edge of the bed until she reached the stool that had been placed near the head of it. Hannah lowered herself onto it gently, trying to hide a wince. Her own doctors still weren't happy with her insisting on being up and around but she had had enough of sitting still and being fussed over. There was far too much to do. Recovery, rescue, organization, rebuildingthe list went on and on, even for an Admiral who was suppose to be on medical leave. Besides, doing things kept her mind occupied. Kept her from thinking and worrying about her only child. 

Lil looked pale and fragile laying there with all the machines plugged into her. Gently, Hannah reached out and smoothed some hair away from her eyes, as she had when her daughter had been much younger. That had been years, and years ago, before she became a war hero, before she had even joined the Alliance, but right now she reminded her mother more of that little girl than of the legends people claimed her to be. 

"Get through this Lillie," she said, covering her daughter's hand with her own. "You made me mourn you once. Don't do that to me again." It had been easier, back when they had been on separate ships, in totally different areas of space. Easier to just be proud of everything your daughter had accomplished when there was a million different things to do and you were scrambling to even survive another day. It was nearly impossible when you knew your daughter was in the same building as you and hadn't woken up since she was brought here. 

This was one of the few hospitals that had remained standing after the Reapers had hit. Only the worst of the worst were being treated in the hospital itself, there were simply to many casualties to be able to fit even a fraction of their forces. Everyone else was in the temporary medical wards had been set up surrounding it. Turian, human, quarian, even krogan were all being brought here. It made things.interesting at the very least. 

Her daughter's room was well away from the center of the building, in a private and well guarded wing away from the public. They were keeping most of the higher ranking personal that had been wounded in the same wing as well, although her daughter had been granted a private room in a separate hallway. Not many people even knew she was here, a blessing considering all the answers everyone was clambering for. They weren't particularly concerned about the personal welfare of the person who could answer them either. At least she was safe for the moment.

It was thanks to Admiral Hackett for that really. He had convinced what was left of the Alliance brass that it was better to keep the information quiet, at least until her daughter woke. Since the few remaining news feeds were all either calling her missing or presumed dead she supposed they were doing a very good job with the quiet part. Of those few that knew she was still alive, still fewer actually knew where she was. They might have guessed, but they weren't allowed into see for sure. The doctors kept a very short list on who they trusted near her.

It was one of her daughter's friends, or at least acquaintances that was proving to be a great help in that. Miranda Lawson had driven off or deflected away most people that tried to visit her. Having faced her at worst Hannah had a health respect for the woman, although Miss Lawson had mellowed considerable once she had verified that yes, she was indeed Commander Shepard's mother. Miss Lawson had placed her on the very short list of people she was actually allowing in her daughter's room after that. That didn't help the suspicion she felt toward the younger woman. She knew very well who Lawson was and where she had come from. She didn't trust her entirely, but she couldn't argue with the results she was getting. She just wished she knew who has tipped the woman off about where he daughter was. A security leak like that wasn't comforting, and that was one of many questions Lawson wouldn't answer. But that could wait. Better to let the questions lay fallow until Lillie woke up. Her daughter should be able to answer some of them at least. 

After a while the Admiral glanced down at her omintool and sighed at time on the holoclock. She would have liked to stay a bit longer but duties, and the fact that Lawson would throw a fit if she stayed too long, meant that she had to leave. Besides, there was a twinge in her hip that was her body warning her that it didn't like her sitting on a hard stool for so long. Time to move. 

Although she did lower her arm and stood, Hannah still stood by her daughter's bedside for another long moment before she gave her hand a hard squeeze. "Don't give up," she whispered furiously before she let go and moved away. 

She had left her cane leaning near the doorway. It wasn't something she had wanted to use but her injuries had left her with little choice. Hannah knew that her doctors would probably have preferred if she was either in a wheelchair or confined to a bed, but she wasn't about to let herself be chained to either. There was just too much to do and this suited her, even if it did make her move a bit slower.

She gave a nod to the guards that had been stationed right outside the door to the room. Hackett hadn't been willing to take any chances. Her daughter was still the only one who knew everything that had happened up there in the Crucible, why it had fired and the answer to a million other questions. That was why there was a second set of guards just outside the door that lead into her daughter's little hallway.  
As she neared the ended of the bigger hallway that lead out of the main hospital, raised voices reached her ears. They were agitated and instinct but made her tense and drop her free hand to the pistol she still carried out of habit. It was only a twinge of pain that shot up her leg that snapped her attention to what she was doing. Slowly she removed her hand from the gun, reminding herself silently that she hadn't heard any gunshots yet nor did she have any reason to suspect there was a real threat at the moment. Arguments were commonplace, and nothing to be concerned about. That didn't stop her from increasing her pace as she continued down the hall, ignoring the pain that shot down her hip and leg. 

"..already know she's here, so why don't we stop the games and just let me through?" was the first thing she was able to make out when she got close enough. The voice was Turian, that was obvious and it sounded half familiar to her. She couldn't place it for the life of her but she felt she should know it. Unusual, given that most Turians were being treated in their own area but not something entirely unexpected. The rest of the wing with the higher-ranked personal, including her own room until recently, was right there and she did remember some fuss being made over a Turian general that had been brought in. One of his men could have come looking for him, but then again whoever this was had said 'she'. It twanged suspicions with her.

She wasn't near enough to hear the reply of the guards protecting the entrance to this corridor itself, but she was more than near enough to hear the Turian. 

"If you need authorization, why don't you ask someone who Garrus Vakarian is?" You didn't need to be an expect on interspecies interactions to hear the annoyance in his voice. "Served on the Normandy? Both of them? Helped kick the asses of both the Collectors and the Reapers? Advisor to the Primarch? _Best friend to Commander Shepard?"_

Hannah turned the corner in time to see one of the two Marines turn to look at his partner in confusion. He was young, very young, and apparently didn't know what to make of this. 

"Do you think we should..?" he didn't even try to keep his voice down. The other Marine was older, although not by much, and he just shook his head. 

"We have heard your name before, sir," he said politely, "but you do not have authorization to proceed past this point. We cannot break orders, and we haven't received word to add your name to the list of those with clearance for this area."

"Oh, _come on_ ," was the snarled reply from the man they were blocking. Admiral Shepard studied the Turian with the battle scars and the visor. At least that told her why she had recognized his voice. They had met only once, years ago, at that tense funeral for her daughter. It had been brief, only a polite version of 'I'm sorry for your loss, she was a good Commander' before he had walked away. Beyond that, she knew him only from the reports she had read and wide spread rumor. Those alone had indicated a rather impressive record and rank. Lil had mentioned him a time or two in passing as well in the short messages they had sent each other. He had been someone she trusted.

"I'm sorry," the younger of the Marines did sound as if he meant the sentiment, "but our orders come from Admiral Hackett himself. The restrictions are necessary for the Commander's safety. We can't just take your word for it that you"

"So all the scans and barriers are just for fun?" Vakarain flicked a talon that biometrics scanner that had been placed at the beginning of the hallway, just past the guards. They were supposed to sound the alarm if anyone went though them who didn't have clearance. Hannah had thought it unnecessary and a waste of time the first she had heard of it but when they remaining Alliance brass agreed on something there wasn't much she could do. "You would think that the Alliance would be more competent than that. Unless your saying that it's Marines can't even interpret a simple _scan_." 

The two Marines bristled at the remark, but Admiral Shepard just gave an amused grin. Young they might be but Admiral Hackett had placed them here for a reason. Vakarian had much to learn if he thought he could actually make them respond to that remark. 

Not that she thought he really expected them to. She might be the first to admit that she knew crap all about Turian body language or expressions, but there were just some things that seemed to translate across species. Like the impatient, worried pacing or the desperation undercutting his voice. She wasn't completely sure about the last, the dual harmonics were throwing her off slightly, but she was fairly sure about it. Besides, she had been serving with Turians during the Reaper war. The way his mandible were flaring and twitching was something she had only seen when once before, when she had seen a commander getting news from Palaven. Hannah hated to assume anything but if she had to take a guess that was the Turian equivalent of 'complete helplessness'. It was a feeling she knew all to well. Back when they had first brought her daughter in, no one accept the doctors had been allowed anywhere near her until she was stabilized. The waiting, that had been the hardest part. That was not a feeling she would wish on anyone. 

"Look, you just contact one of your superiors right now and tell them I'm here. One way or another I'm getting through here, and I would much rather it be through the _peaceful_ route. Less damage that way." There was a menacing rumbling that crept into the subvocal harmonics. It made even her stiffen and she saw the guards drop hands to weapons. Immediately she started to move forward to avoid an intergalactic incident. 

"I'm sorry _sir_ ," one of the Marines said, "but our superiors are in a meeting. You'll have to wait until it's concluded." The tone of 'and just _try_ to do something about it' was clear even from where she was standing. The response from an outright growl from Vakarian that had the two Marines shifting uneasily. 

"I really don't care where they are," was the more coherent response although there was a clear rumble still in his subtones. "Get a hold of them now or you patch me through to them. I _really_ don't feel like being patient right about right." There was a familiar note of command in his voice. He was _used_ to giving orders, and she would tell them Marines recognized that even if they weren't consciously aware of it.

"We can't do that," was terse response from the older Marine, " _sir_." The younger one shifted uncomfortably. 

"Look," he said before Vakarian would reply to that, "even if you get clearance for this wing, you might not be able to get back to Commander Shepard. The doctors are the ones really controlling access to her, you won't get anywhere unless you talk to them. They said they wanted as few distractions for her recovery and they've limited the visitor list. Right now it's only family and close friends that.."

"Well that's fine; I think being her boyfriend more than qualities me for _both_ lists," there was a strange look in his eyes, "and I don't care _who_ gave the orders. Just tell me where they are, or just take the easy way out and let me through. I'm getting past here no matter what you decide. One way is just quieter than the other." 

Hannha's mind had screeched to a halt at the first sentence and she used every ounce of self-control to keep her mouth from dropping open completely. She wasn't totally stunned; the logical part of her brain was already prompting her that she should do something before it turned into a diplomatic incident and trying to figure out what action she should take. It was the rest of her brain, the emotional part, that was stuck on an endless loop of 'What?' 

It wasn't as if she hadn't heard the rumors flying around about her daughter's involvement with her Turian crewmember, but she hadn't taken any of them seriously. Scuttlebutt ran rampant on any ship and when you threw in someone with a reputation like her daughterswell, that was just an invitation for the gossip to come creeping out of the dark corners. It hadn't occurred to her there would be some truth buried in there. 

Besides her own daughter hadn't even _mentioned_ that she was seeing someone. Not that personal lives were high on the list of things they talked about anymore, but you would think an inter-species relationship that could have very high intergalactic political ramifications would be worth brining up.

The guards appeared to having the same thoughts she was, although the older of the two had actually drawn back a little and was just staring. 

"What?" the younger one said, "But you're" he trailed off, shaking his head and looked over at his partner. "Should we..?" 

"Itit doesn't change anything," he said after a moment and Hannah was struck by how very, very young they two of them were. She would have to revise her initial thoughts on why they had been set here. They bore the wounds of having served in the war but they had probably only seen action because the Alliance had been in desperate needed of any warm body that could fill a uniform. Maybe not the most skilled of those who had been rushed out of training, but they were badly wounded and more than capable of standing guard to free up other, more needed, personnel for other duties. Or that was probably the thought process behind their assignment.  
Her mind was slowly pulling out it's shocked loop, pushed out by sheer annoyance at whoever was the commanding officer of these two. The guards on the inner doors might be veterans but that was no excuse for assigning personnel to a much more public position that had an even greater chance of causing incidence. She was going to have to have a word with _someone_ about assigning kids so woefully under prepared for their positions here. 

That feeling was only enforced when Vakarian took advantage of the fact that their startled steps back to slip between them with that strange grace Turians kept even when they were in full armor. He was through the scanner, which didn't go off for some reason, a small blessing, before they could even react.   
"Hey, you can't!" 

Vakarian had glanced back to check on the guards and almost ran into her before he noticed she was there. He screeched to a stop as he stared down at her in confusion. Apparently he been so focused he hadn't even noticed that his little conversation that he hadn't seen the other human in the hallway. She pinned him with a measuring look. 

"Let him go," she heard herself say. The two Marines pulled up short and seemed to notice that she was there for the first time as well. Lax of them not to even be aware of her presence.

"Admiral Shepard," the older one said in shock and threw her a sketchy salute. "Um, sorry, but we can't"

"Shepard?" Vakarian looked at her sharply, finally taking the time to really study her.

"Make it an order if you have to, and tell anyone who asks I was the one that gave it. If they have a problem with it tell them to come to me." She turned her attention away from the marine and back to the Turian in front of her. For a moment she didn't say anything.   
Back during the First Contact War, she had been a very young marine. She still remembered being instructed in how vicious, brutal and strange the Turians were. How they were aliens, cold, merciless being that could not be understood or reasoned with.   
She doubted anyone back then had ever seen a Turian with this sort of naked emotion in his eyes. 

"Um," he cleared his throats, seem to vibrate with some sort of nervous energy. 

She nodded. "If you want to see her, come on," she told him and gestured down the hall. "The Alliance didn't give my daughter just _one_ layer of security, and I think they would be happier if I made sure there weren't anymoreevents over it." 

"Thank you," was the response as they started walking. "How is the Commander? I mean really, not just what the reports said." 

"She's recovering," was the only thing Hannah said. "Now, if you really want to thank me then tell me how you managed to find out where she was. I thought that we had maintained better secrecy than that." 

There was silent for a moment and Hannah wondered if the Turian was even going to answer her. Vakarian hesitated then said quickly. "Dr. T'soni sent me a message about it. She thought I had a right to know." 

"I suppose you do," was the only reply she could think of to that beyond a faint annoyance at the scientist for breaking protocol so easily. Didn't she realize how much of a security risk that was or how much trouble she should get in? At least that anger was something she knew how to deal with.

She wasn't sure what you were _supposed_ to say when you found out your daughter's boyfriend was from an alien race you had started out your military career shooting at. Not that she held any sort of animosity or judgment towards the Turians themselves but this was just _awkward._ Thankfully she was saved from having to figure out more conversation when they reached the inner door guards. The two Marines there older, more experienced and, although no one had actively told her about it, N7 members that had been trusted enough to know who they were really guarding. She had taken time to look up their service records herselfor at least as much of their service records as she could get access to. 

They gave Vakarian measuring stares, which he matched with an impatient glare, before she stepped up and explained things. She had expected to meet more resistance than she did with the hallway guards, but either they were more aware of who Vakarian was or they were willing to trust her judgment in the matter. After a few curt questions they let them pass.

"Please tell me they're more competent than they look," Vakarian muttered as they went through the doors. "I really _really_ don't want to think about the security around the Commander being _so_ lax that someone can walk right in." 

"If you weren't with me it would be a _lot_ harder to get back here," she pointed out. "These are good men, and they were chosen for a reason." The Turian grumbled something under his breath that her translator didn't catch. Not that she needed to know exact words in order to catch the meaning behind it. "Would you really have wanted them to waste more time arguing with you?"

He mulled that over for a moment. "Ask me later. When I'm actually feeling charitable." 

"Lil never mentioned anything between the two of you," she said to distract him. Or at least that had been her intent. The words came out a little sharper than she had meant them to be. She knew it was foolish; it wasn't as if she had ever wanted to know all the details of her daughter's personal life. However right now, with everything so raw, the thought that she didn't even know her daughter had been seeing _anyone_ threw her. Such a small thing, why hadn't seen been aware of it?

Vakarian reached up to scratch at the back of his neck. "There wasn't.we weren't really together until right before we blew up the Collector base. Then it was the Mass Relay and she was dragged back to earth. The Alliance wasn't letting her talk with anyone after that, and then when the war hit, well..it slipped our minds?" 

The last sounded almost apologetic and she felt a twinge of guilt over that. "I can't really fault you for it," she said. "Everyone had bigger things to worry about during the war."

"Just a few things," he agreed, "like say the fate of the entirely galaxy or how we were going to get _everyone_ to actually be sensible for once," but didn't get a chance say anything more as they reached the door to Lillie's room. The only windows into the room where the small one in the door and the slightly larger one positioned so someone could keep an eye on the patient. They had to pass that first window in order to reach the door, and even that small glimpse of her daughter made him freeze for half a second. He made a noise, low in his throat. She looked at him in confusion. She had never heard a Turian voice anything like that half whine-half growl.   
That sound brought both guard snapping to attention but she flashed them the hand signal that meant 'all clear'.

"Admiral Shepard," one of them said, coming forward to meet her. "What are you doing back here? I thought you had ended your visit for today." 

"It's complicated," she said. While she was trying to explain things to the guard, Garrus slipped by them. They noticed but apparently they believed her, or at least trusted her enough at this point, that neither of them tried to stop him. They knew how much Lil meant to her. Maybe they knew what it meant if she was willing to allow him near her while she was unconscious. After a few more assurances she followed the Turian back into the room.

Vakarian was standing by the head of her daughter's bed, head bowed. He was speaking but whatever he said was too low for her to catch. She learned against the doorway and watched as he slowly brought up a hand toward her cheek. He didn't let the hand touch but instead he let his fingers hover a hair's breadth from her skin. Still not touching her he trailed a trembling hand down her face, neck, shoulder, and then followed her arm down to her hand. He didn't take it though, and just let his fingers ghost over hers, as if he was afraid she was going to break or disappear at any moment. A soft tone crept into Garrus voice, something so tender it hurt to listen to it. Hannah began to feel like an intruder. There was an intimacy and emotion there that felt as if should be private. 

_Nonsense,_ she told herself. It was her daughter. She had a right to be here. With a few steps she crossed the room to stand at the foot of her daughter's bed again. A sense of déjà vu crept over her; she had been standing here far too much lately. A twinge of pain again, telling her she should be resting somewhere. She pushed that aside for the moment.

Something about her movement must have alerted Vakarian. He glanced in her direction but then turned his gaze back on her daughter. 

"The first reports we received said she was dead ," he said, sounding faintly accusing. It made her bristle before she forced herself to calm down. 

"Some idiot started throwing that around almost as soon as the battle was ended," she said remember the old pain she had first heard it. "As far as I've been able to fathom it was only rumors. One that reached _someone_ in a position of authority, and believe me they will regret it when I find _who_ it was, but just rumors. The Alliance had her listed as MIA until Dr. T'soni and Lieutenant Vega brought her in." 

"Funny, I thought most of the Alliance _still_ listed her as MIA," he actually looked. "Not that I blame you. It's a good idea. Keep the scavengers away until she's on her feet again." 

"That was the idea," she said relaxing a little at not having to deal with an _angry_ Turian. "There are a lot of questions out there about what happened with the Reapers, a lot of people impatient for the answers to them. Some of them are just looking for someone to blame." She snorted, "Some of the Alliance brass wanted so answers so badly they were ready to try forcing her wake." She couldn't keep the quite fury out of her voice as she remembered the meeting where they had brought that idea up. "I told them no, and exactly what would happen to each of them if they tried it." 

For a moment there was something angry in his eyes that almost made her take a step back as he finally reached over and squeezed Lil's hand. Then that look faded and he cocked his head, mandibles flaring slightly. "Heh." The laugh was quiet, and strained but there.

"You find that amusing?" 

"Just starting to realize where the Commander gets it from," he said as he glanced back at her daughter. "I almost wish I could have been there. That was bound to have been entertaining." 

"Glad I amuse you," she said dryly, but without malice. "Although I can't claim all the credit. Admiral Hackett and Miss Lawson gave as much too.."

"Wait," Vakarian cut her off, "You mean _Miranda_ is here?" 

"Yes, she's been helping with Lil's care," Hannah gave him a puzzled look. "Didn't you know?" 

"For _some_ reason no one thought to mention that to me," he said under his breath then looked at her. His gaze locked on her own. "You do realize what she is, right?" 

Hannah didn't even have to think to know what he meant. "You mean a former Cerberus operative? I did read her file, Vakarian. I know what she is."

"Then the Alliance is keeping a close eye on her?" 

"Do you really think I would let someone like her near my daughter unsupervised?" It had been impossible _not_ to hear about her daughter's activities in Cerberus. From the moment the first sighting had come in Alliance command had started scrambling to make sense of it. _She_ had been called in for questioning. They had wanted to know if her daughter had contacted her, did she have any idea where she was or where she had been for the past two years. On and on while she had been struggling to come to term with the fact that her daughter was _alive_ , that that particular miracle was a reality. When she seen where Miranda Lawson had come from she had come close to chasing her off. Hackett had convinced her otherwise.

"..Right. Sorry," the Turian admitted. "I suppose that even the Alliance isn't that naïve." 

"Oh, humans learn fast when given the motivation," she couldn't help saying. "I didn't like it much, but she has been improving rabidly while under Lawson's care. She's almost fully healed. We just have to wait for her towake up." 

Both them feel silent, the reality of those words weighing heavily on them. There was nothing either of them could _do_ about this situation. It was a place she was not used to being in, and if she had to guess it was probably affecting Vakarian the same way. However she felt about the Turian at he moment, he did obviously care about her daughter in some way. She could feel sympathy to that.

"Do we have any time frame when she will?" Vakarian asked. She shook her head, not trusting her voice to remain steady if she spoke.

"Sooner, if she actually has a chance to rest," the crisp female voice came from the doorway. Hannah Shepard was not remotely surprised when she turned to see who it was. 

"Miss Lawson," she said by way of greeting as the younger woman entered the room.

"Miranda," Vakarian said dryly. "So you _are_ here. I'm surprised you cared enough to come." 

"Nice to see you too," she said with equal dryness as she gave Hannah a nod. "You don't have to be sound so surprised Garrus. I owe the Commander, in ways that I can't repay. Besides, I am the one that's best qualified to see to her and you know it." 

"Unfortunately, I can't argue with that," Vakarian admitted after a pause, "although I really, really want to." 

"You don't trust me?" 

"I _never_ trusted you," Vakarian rumbled. "I trusted _Shepard._ There's a difference." 

An urgent beeping from Hannah Shepard's omi-tools broke the tense atmosphere in the room. She glanced down at it, feeling rather relived that she wouldn't be forced to run another intervention. 

"I'm afraid that's my reminder that I have a meeting to get to," she said, looking up at the other two conscious occupants in the room. The interruption felt forced but at least it had shattered the tension. She didn't want to leave it like this, but she had duties that she had to get to. Things she had volunteered for in order to keep herself occupied. There was so much to do they were only to glad to accept help. "If you'll excuse me?" She gave both of them a parting nod. 

"It was nice to see you again, Admiral," Lawson said, sounding neutral. 

"Thanks for the help earlier," the Turian said after a moment's hesitation. "And uh, it was nice to meet you?" 

"That wasn't any trouble," she said mildly then paused in the door. "But, Vakarian? We are going to have a talk later. A nice long one." She moved away and out of the room before he could answer. 

Her soft order to 'make sure they don't _kill_ each other' only amused the guards as she passed by them.


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garrus' discusses the Commanders' condition with Miranda and runs into a couple of familiar faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took longer than I expected to write. This chapter is a little more dramatic, focuses a lot more on Garrus/FemShep, and I'm sorry that there's not more Admiral Hannah in it. I wanted to use this to set up somethings and maybe answer a few questions. The Talk with her will be in the next chapter though!
> 
> Original this story was going to have four parts total, but I extended it to six parts because I wanted to involve Garrus' family too.

If you had asked Garrus Vakarian less than an hour ago, he would have said honestly that their families weren’t something that he and Shepard had talked about much. Not that he had hadn’t thought of his before, in the down shift hours when she was curled up in bed next to him and he had wondered how he was going to bring up the topic of an alien girlfriend to his father. That it was Commander Shepard might either make things worse or better depending on how his father chose to see things. 

But Lil’s own family? The mother had he had heard mentioned once or twice? That was something he hadn’t thought of much, aside from being happy for Shepard when she had told him that her mother was all right. He had known in the back of his mind that he would have to meet her someday, the woman who had raised _his_ Shepard. Really introduce himself to her, not like before when they had exchanged grief stricken platitudes that had barely been noticed. This time, he had wanted to do things right.

Of course, apparently the universe had decided it had other plans. He had never, in his worst imagined confrontations thought that meeting would turn out like it had. In his mind Lil had been there, by his side. Not lying here, so wounded and fragile it felt like a wrong look would shatter her. As he watched Admiral Shepard leave, he couldn’t help but feel that something, somewhere had gone very wrong. He very much doubted that yelling at Marines and nearly running her over had left a very good first impression on her. One of the things forefront in his mind was that he wanted to get along with her, even if it was only for Lil’s sake. This didn’t look like a very good start to that.

When she was gone Miranda didn’t say anything, just gave him a look and raised an eyebrow at him. Garrus decided to ignore that and turned back to Lil, trying to reassure himself that she was alive, that she was breathing and her heart beating. Part of him still wasn’t sure it was _real_. He wondered if this was just a dream, and he would wake up alone in the Normandy again with the knowledge that this had just been a fantasy and she really was gone. 

“I take it that the Admiral…knows about the two of you? I can’t imagine what else would drive her to say that,” Miranda’s question was actually a welcome distraction for the direction his thoughts had been headed and Garrus glanced over at her. 

“Yes, she knows,” was all he said. He didn’t see why Miranda of all people should know how she found out. He wasn’t entirely sure on human protocol for introducing yourself to your lover’s parents but he was positive that his _announcement_ back there had been far outside it. 

“I’m surprised she let you back here then,” was the reply from the former-Cerberus operative. He couldn’t stop the soft growl that crept into his voice. 

“Why wouldn’t she?” he asked shortly. “She doesn’t seem to mind my..relationship with Shepard. Not all humans are Cerberus.” The unsaid words of ‘like you’ hung in the air after it. At least the Admiral hadn’t outright _objected_ to him. Maybe things weren’t as hapless as he thought.

“I thought you were aware I have nothing to do with Cerberus anymore, and has nothing to do with what I was trying to say,” Miranda scowled, “I was _talking_ about the fact that the esteemed Admiral served in the First Contact War. I can’t imagine that makes her welcome the thought of a turian courting her daughter with open arms. Or weren’t you aware of that fact?” 

Garrus was immediately grateful that Miranda hadn’t shown any interest in learning how to read Turian facial expressions. He wasn’t able to keep all of his surprise off his face, and giving her the satisfaction of knowing she had caught him off guard was the last thing he wanted. Shepard hadn’t mentioned that to him, although to be perfectly fair, she probably would have if he had asked. Discussing potentially awkward family history just been a high priority with everything else going on. 

“So what? Clearly she wasn’t _that_ appalled by it,” he said at last. “She let me back here, didn’t she? If she really didn’t want the big, bad Turian near her daughter all she had to do was step aside and let the guards stop me.” 

“If they would even be able to do that without causing a bigger mess. You do realize that dropping threats to Alliance personnel is not likely to go over well?” 

That made his mandible flare a little. “How did you know about that?” Another thought occurred to him. “How did you even know that we were here? It’s much of a coincidence that you show up right after we get here.” 

“You give yourself too much credit Vakarian,” she said. “I’m in charge of looking after the Commander’s health. I do take that seriously enough to check on her. I was actually on my way here when I received the alert that you had arrived. It doesn’t take much to realize this was the first place you would go.” 

“I’m surprised you have access to official Alliance channels,” he said, his hand not leaving Shepard’s yet. 

She snorted. “Looking after the Commander is the largest part of my duties, but I have been lending my support in other ways. And don’t worry, the Alliance has been making sure that I remain a good little girl.” She smiled in a self satisfied way. “Although this time they can’t take all the credit for it. I was well aware of your arrival even before those Marines you were so cheerfully abusing called in to complain about the ‘crazy turian’.”  
“You should be grateful. Those scanners weren’t just for show you know. I rigged them to accept the biometrics of half the Normandy crew when I got here. I was sure that none of you would be anything like patient or logical when it came to the Commander. An alert was sent to me when the scanner recognized you.” 

“Yes _thank you_ for that,” he growled. “Clearly I wouldn’t have been able to get back here at _all_ without your help.” 

“Without any help at all you would still be arguing with Alliance Command,” she observed, “But regardless of that I really do need to do my job. You’re going to need to leave. Now. The Commander has been put under enough for stress for one day.” 

“No,” he didn’t bother trying to keep the growl out of his voice. “I’m not leaving her again.” His hand tightened around Shepard’s and he glared at Miranda. “I’m staying right here.” 

He had expected to hear something form her, something mocking or a snapped order to comply. Instead her face shifted into something softer. 

“I’m not heartless,” she said, “I understand what it must feel like, and why you would want to stay by her side. But, can you honestly say there’s anything that you would be able to do to help her right now?” 

“I…” he looked down at Shepard. _His_ Shepard. That was a blow he hadn’t expected and he didn’t know how to respond to it. It had been a fact he hadn’t want to face and had been trying to avoid thinking about. All he could do with her in this state was stay by her side and hoped his support counted for something. The only medical knowledge he had was the basic battlefield first aid that all turian soldiers were taught, and that was mostly ‘how to apply medigel correctly’. He couldn’t even tell you want half the readouts around her meant, or even how she was doing right now. 

“I know you don’t trust me,” Miranda said, steeping closer, “but trust in what I owe the Commander at least. I wouldn’t do anything that could hurt her. I want to see her back on her feet, and up to her usual insane antics. I can’t do that when I have someone under my feet at all times.” Her eyes were serious. “I told Admiral Shepard the same thing. You aren’t going to help her, or yourself, standing here worrying. I doubt she’s going to thank you for it either, once she’s awake.” 

“You really think you know her that well? Because I really don’t remember the two of you being best friends on the Normandy.” Was what he said, although he already knew the truth of her words. Shepard always hated anyone fussing over when she was injured, Miranda was right about that at least. There was just this feeling that if he looked away she was going to disappear. He knew how stupid that was, but he couldn’t shake it. 

“You know that answer to that,” was the only reply he got. “I have everyone, even her mother under a time limit for visits,” Miranda was saying again. He didn’t even look up at the former Cerberus operative. “Does turian command even know you’re back? I find it hard to believe that they _wouldn’t_ be looking for someone with a rank as high as yours.” 

“You really want me to believe that turian _anything_ would confide information to you?” he snorted. 

“Of course they wouldn’t,” now Miranda just sounded annoyed. Good. He could deal with her being annoyed. He didn’t know how to handle a sympathetic Miranda. That was just _weird_. “But, I thought you could use the reminder that there are other things you could be doing besides hovering over a sickbed.” 

Logically he knew she was right. At the very least he should contact the Primarch to tell him he had made it back alive. Victus had become something of a friend while they had been stuck on Menea and he owed the man that at least. Contacting him would mean admitting that he was here though, and the moment that happened then he would be dragged out to deal with the aftermath of the battle. His rank alone would make it impossible for him to get away from the responsibilities. 

He growled a little under his breath, trying to ignore the smug expression on Miranda’s face. Shepard herself would tell him to go, to stop fussing and see to his duties. He knew her well enough to know that. She had told him, several times, that she was proud of him for what he had accomplished. It had felt good to hear it from her, but now it was just another thing that was trying to drag him away . He hadn’t been there to watch her back this time, and look how she had ended up.  
“I’m staying.” 

“I can _make_ you leave this room you know,” Miranda’s voice was icy. He could hear the shuffle of a bootstep out in the hallway. Right. Guards. 

“Are you really willing to do that?” he said softly. “I doubt it. Forcing me would ending up being messier and much more stressful to the Commander. I’m not going to go quietly.” From the furious expression on Miranda’s face, he had won that round. He allowed himself to savor that small piece of victory before a calmer expression crossed the woman’s face and he felt dread settle in the bit of is stomach. 

“You’re right,” she said, “forcing you would be messy. But I can tell the Alliance that they have a rouge Turian who is refusing to listen to reason hovering around the Commander. I can also tell Admiral Shepard that you aren’t listening to the doctors and could be endangering her daughter’s health. I’m sure she would _love_ to hear that about the man she brought back here herself.” 

If there was any sort of justice in the universe than the glare he sent Miranda’s way should have fried her. Or at least tossed her across the room. Or done _something_. Instead she just kept on talking. “I imagine, even if specifics didn’t make it into the report, that your turian Hierarchy wouldn’t be pleased about someone was…high ranking as you are causing problems with their allies.” She paused and titled her head. “Now I wonder which way would really turn out to be messier for you?” 

“You fight dirty,” he growled.

“All’s fair in war. I thought you of all people would know that.” She uncrossed her arms and took a step nearer to him. “Now, what will you do, Vakarian?” 

There was a tense pause between them that was broken only by a soft tap in the doorway. 

“Excuse me?” He knew that voice, and looked up, past Miranda.

“Liara?” 

The asari information broker smiled at him. “Garrus,” she said in some relief. “I had heard you had arrived. I thought you might be here.” She was wearing some sort of long hooded coat, which part of his mind noted was strange for her. 

“Dr. T’soni,” Miranda said after taking a deep breath. Her tone was curt. “I would ask what you are doing here but I don’t think that matters at the moment. You know that the Commander is at a delicate state. Having this many people crowding into her room is not going to help her in anyway. Unless you can get him,” she gestured in his direction, “to leave with you, I suggest you go right now.” 

“At least let me speak to him?” Liara asked. Well half asked, in polite way. He could hear the steel in her voice, and knew that she wasn’t going to let Miranda chase her off. “I know very well what the Commander needs, Miranda.” 

“Then try to be quick about it,” the other woman said. “Otherwise I will before force to take _some_ sort of action.” 

He hard Liara give a low voiced reply, then a few steps and he felt her lay a gentle hand on his upper arm. 

“She’s going to be all right, Garrus,” she said gently and looked down at the Commander. “Everyone is doing all they can for her. Believe me, I have been checking on her everyday. She’s getting better.”

“…I should have been there with her Liara,” he said softly. “I should have had her back. If I had been there, if I hadn’t let her persuade me to go back to the Normandy I could have..” 

“It would haven’t have made a difference,” the words were spoken with some conviction. “I was there, remember? James and I, we did everything we could for her but she insisted on going ahead. You know how she gets when the fighting starts.” 

He did know, that was the worst of it. Shepard was never content to stay behind the lines. Of course she would have been the first out in something like that. That was why he should have been there! He could have pulled her back, or been there with her. Guarded her. Now the only thing he could do was be here when she woke up. 

“You know I need to be here,” he said quietly, “I can’t leave, Liara.” 

“You think I don’t understand that?” her voice was equally quiet but there was an edge to it. “I was _right_ there Garrus, and I could do nothing. You think that I don’t want to be here, with her, making sure she recovers? I’ve been worrying every moment of every day since we found her.” Her voice half broke. “I would stay here if I could, but you know Miranda is right. The only thing we can do here is get in the way. But there are other things we can do, away from here, to make sure everything that Shepard worked for holds together. When she wakes up, don’t you want to be able to tell her that everything is going fine and all the races were still working together to rebuild?” 

He knew that he had technically most of that was things Miranda had already said. It didn’t make any logical sense why they felt more _real_ when Liara said them, but they did. Maybe it was because he _knew_ that she meant them. With Miranda there would always be that doubt lurking in his mind at what her motives behind her words were. No matter what Shepard said, he couldn’t shake that. 

Liara though, she was a friend. She had been with Shepard at the beginning, and he knew that tone of voice. The asari cared about Shepard, maybe even as something more than a friend if the rumors to be believed. He had never had reason to believe they were true before, but, well, if they were then she would understand where he was coming from more than most.

“I don’t want her to wake up alone again,” he told the asari. Once, after she had saved him on Omega, he had asked her about what it was like to wake up from the dead. Both of them had been more than a little drunk at the time, and she had admitted how terrifying it had been to wake up on that slab, alone, with only a voice telling her what to do and enemies around her. It was one of the few times he had ever heard her sound truly frightened. Even though that had been before they had gotten together, he had still made a promise with himself that he wouldn’t let her go through anything like that by herself again. Waking up here, surrounded by machines, guards and doctors, what would that be like for her?

“She won’t be alone,” Miranda said impatiently. “We’ll have someone by standby at all times for when she wakes. We can explain and..” 

“Because having a doctor come visiting is so comforting,” he couldn’t help saying. “Nothing at _all_ like anything else she’s been through.” The jab made Miranda frown. He took a breath. “ She’s going to need a friendly face, not one of your goons.” 

“They aren’t…” Miranda sighed. “I’ve been monitoring the readouts personally. I should know the moment she starts to come around, and I’ll send you a message immediately. Will that suffice?” 

He knew it wouldn’t, not really. But there was a sudden urgent beep from one of the machines, something that causes Miranda to frown and push past him to check on. Another reminder, no matter how much it hurt, he really wasn’t of much use here. 

As Miranda muttered about something on the machine, Liara whispered softly. “I have my own programs watching the machines. I’m not an expert but I should know anything as soon as Miranda does.” That did make him feel a bit better. 

“Well?” Miranda had turned around now and was _looking_ at him. 

“..Give me a few minuets,” he said at last. “Then I’m gone for a while.” He turned his head to pin Miranda with a look of his own. “I’ll be back though. I’m not leaving her alone.” 

The former Cerberus agent looked as if she would like to argue with him, but for some reason she didn’t. “You’ll have to wait until tomorrow then. Along with _everyone else._ You need to let her rest. I’ll give you five more minuets, then I’m having you dragged out of here.” She turned and left then, going to talk to the guards outside. Liara hesitated, then gave his arm a last pat before following her, leaving him alone with Shepard. 

He was silent as he looked down at her, his hand still gripping hers. His thumb rubbed her knuckles gently, and then he leaned down to brush his forehead against hers. 

“This isn’t what I meant by coming back alive, Shepard,” he said softly. “I know you’re shit at following orders sometimes, but please let this be one of the few times that you actually listen. I’ll keep coming back until you wake up and tell me to stop.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “Come back to me Shepard. I don’t think I can deal with this alone.” 

He stayed that way until Miranda came and reminded him that he had to go.

Liara was waiting for him in the hallway. The guards seemed amused by something as he went by them, but were silent. 

“Thank you,” he said to the asari as they started back down the hall. 

“I realized that something like that might happen after I sent you the message,” she admitted. “Miranda has been very protective of Shepard since I asked her to help, and I knew that she might object to you being there.” A small smile touched her lips. “Although after everything the two of you have been though, I doubt she could have kept you from Shepard.” 

“The message was part of what I was thanking you fo…” the rest of her words registered with him then. “You’re the one that dragged Miranda into this?” He didn’t try to hide the accusation in his tone. 

“You didn’t see her when we found her, Garrus,” Liara’s voice was shaky. “Goddess…I wasn’t sure she would make it. We got her to help as fast as we could, but I was still so worried. Miranda had been here, helping. No matter what she was before, you have to admit that she’s probably the one that knows Shepard best at this point. She would help.” 

“Do you trust her?” 

“I’m not sure,” the asari admitted. “But I know that she’s trying her best and I know that Shepard did seem to trust her.” 

“I’m still going to be much happier when Dr. Chakwas gets here,” he fully intended to tell the Normandy’s doctor where the Commander personally, if Liara hadn’t gotten to it already. She knew the Commander was alive, he had told her that himself, but he wasn’t sure the good doctor knew the details. While he wasn’t sure how she felt about Miranda, he would personally feel better with Chakwas there to keep an eye on things. Besides, having here there when she woke up…that would be good for Shepard.

“I was wondering why she wasn’t with you,” Liara admitted. “I know that my messages reached the Normandy and I had gotten word that it had crashed, but nothing else.” She looked at him curiously. 

“The Normandy slammed into the other side of the planet,” he said softly. “We plowed into a jungle of some kind. It knocked out power and communications for a bit…I have never seen Joker that panicked before in his life. There wasn’t any major settlements nearby, which is probably why the Reapers had left that area alone. Of course that meant there wasn’t any patrols nearby either. We did get short range communications back up in time to contact someone and they brought over supplies. Private messages didn’t start coming though until after that.” Most communications had been limited to ‘necessary for the war effort’ before the final battle against the reapers. Personal messages, even highly encrypted ones like Liara’s had been, were moving much slower than military messages. Even though he realized why she hadn’t set her messages as higher priority than they were, he still wished she had done it. It would have saved a lot of heart ache.

“Once I knew she was stable, and what they were planning I decided that you and well, the rest of the Normandy crew really, at least deserved to know that she was alive,” she said softly. “Not knowing any thing at all, I couldn’t imagine what that was like.” 

He decided he wasn’t going to tell her about receiving broadcasts that Shepard was dead. “Believe me, that was one of the most welcome messages I’ve ever received,” was what he said instead. It was the complete and utter truth too. He didn’t like to think about the way it had felt when EDI had tapped into the Alliance feeds and a report that Shepard had been confirmed dead had come in. Like someone had blown a hole in him, only there was no bullet, no bleeding, just the pain that came with it. Pain that transformed into a kind of numbness for a while. “Everyone else gave a sigh of relief too when it came though,” he couldn’t help adding, not wanting to remember that time. “Although I’m not sure how ‘secret’ her condition is going to stay once _everyone_ gets here.” 

“Where is the rest of the crew?” They passed through the second set of guards as she asked that question. The Marine’s watched them but didn’t even move. “I haven’t seen anyone else besides you.” 

“Joker didn’t want to leave the Normandy until she was able to get airborne and move somewhere safer,” he said. “Most of the crew is staying to help with that. I was going to wait too, but I was more or less thrown on to the supply shuttle and told to ‘go find Shepard’.” 

If he was being honest with himself, he hadn’t fought that order as much as he should have. Yes, Tail and most of the others were insistent, although _how_ so many people had found out about his relationship with Commander he didn’t know, but there was no one of high enough rank to really force him to do anything on the ship. He had more or less been Shepard’s second in command for most of the mission. A good Turian would never have abandoned responsibility like that, no matter the reason and the competency of everyone else on board. 

Then again, he had always been bad at being a proper turian. 

“So the rest of them should be here soon?” 

“Yeah,” he responded, “Dr. Chakwas was going to come with me, but she had patients that she didn’t want to leave until she was sure they were settled somewhere.” When an alarmed expression flickered across her face he cursed himself for not realizing how that would sound. “It’s nothing life threatening. Ship crashes aren’t exactly gentle, so we had a few minor injuries. They’ll be back on their feet in no time.” 

“That’s…good,” Liara said slowly as they reached the final checkpoint out into the hospital. Despite the fact that it felt like it had been hours since he had last been here, little time had passed that the guards hadn’t even changed shifts. One of them appeared intent on acting professional, but he could almost feel the heat of the glare the other gave him. Liara must have noticed too, because she gave the guard such a curious look he blushed and looked away from them.  
“Did you really threaten them?” she asked once they were through. 

“Only because they were being idiots and wouldn’t listen to me,” he responded automatically. “It’s not like I was asking the _impossible_ after all. One call to turian command or even their own superiors could have cleared things right up.” 

“You shouldn’t have been that hard on them,” Liara tried to sound stern but there was a sort of half smile on her face. “They were just following orders after all. I am entirely surprised they even you through after that.” 

“Yeah, Admiral Shepard’s endorsement might have had something to do with that,” he said slowly. Now that he had assured himself that his Shepard really was alive, was here, and was recovering, his mind was free to contemplate the elder Shepard woman. He had faced down everything from Geth, to Cerberus, gone on suicide missions, fought Collectors and Reapers….yet for some reason none of them had never brought on the sort of nerves that thinking about a Talk with Admiral Shepard did.

“Admiral..” Liara’s mouth fell open into a small ‘o’ for a moment. “So…you’ve meet her?” 

“Only for a little while, and yes,” he said in response to the unspoken question in hr voice, “she knows about Shepard and me. Or, well the Commander and me. _Us_ anyway.” He reached up to rub the side of his neck nervously. A human gesture he had picked up on the Normandy but it seemed to fit here. “Not sure about the _approving_ part of it though.”

That did seem to surprise Liara. “Why wouldn’t she? You and Shepard have been though so much together…and she did go though all the trouble of letting you see her. She’s been nothing put polite and friendly when I’ve spoken with her, so it’s not likely she has a problem with other races.”

“Humans have never been at war with asair,” he pointed out. “And I think her being okay with aliens in general is a just a _little_ different from her being completely and utterly fine with one dating her only child.” 

“That..” she said thoughtfully, “I had forgotten how strange humans would be about things like that.”

“I guess I’ll just have to win the Admiral Shepard over with my considerable wit and charm,” he said, trying to sound more confident than he felt. They were walking through the hospital proper now and were forced to slow down because of the press of people. Medical personnel, patients, soldiers, and visitors all rushing through the halls intent on getting somewhere. “Managed to do it once before after all.” He paused.  
“You know her, right? Is she anything like the Commander?” If he could find out a little more about the Admiral, figure out what she was like, maybe he could figure out someway to approach her that _didn’t_ involve him screwing things up again. 

Now they were forced to raise their voices as the entered a larger area. At one time it had probably been a waiting room for the hospital. Now all chairs had been removed to make way for rows and rows of cots. Here were those who weren’t as badly wounded and could be left to recover on their own but were juuust high ranking enough they warranted a spot here. It wasn’t as quiet here as it was in the rest of the hospital because of so many gathered in an open area. You could hear the pain in some of the voices. There just wasn’t enough medical staff to get to everyone.

“We’ve only talked a few times,” Liara said as they stopped in a small corner of the room, out of the way of a team of medical personnel that had come rushing by. “She’s a bit like her daughter I suppose, but she isn’t quiet as flexible as the Commander is in…what’s wrong?” 

Garrus tried to choke back the sound he had made. “It’s, uh, nothing,” he said quickly. Maybe a bit _too_ quickly from the look she was giving him. Well, she was just going to remain confused about this one. Luckily the way was clear now and he took it as an excuse to dodge out the doors. 

It was raining outside. He vaguely remembered it had been the same earlier, when he had arrived, but he hadn’t been paying much attention to what the weather was doing then. At least it explained the outfit that Liara was wearing, and it was just water. 

“What will you do now?” she asked as she came up beside him and drew her hood up. 

He sighed. “Probably follow Miranda’s suggestion and check in with turian command. Just don’t tell her that.” 

“I won’t,” was the promise that came with an amused smile. 

“What about you?” he asked as he moved out the way of the doors. There was a small crowd here. Mostly military trying to make their way, although there was a small group of relatives and friends who were here looking for loved ones. The latter he felt a pang of sympathy for. Given what the Reapers had _done_ to the people they captured, well, it was unlikely there was even a body left for them to mourn. 

Liara was also looking at that small crowd. “I’ve been keeping busy. I’ve been trying to reestablish my networks, and get a better picture what’s happening in the rest of the galaxy. I haven’t had as much luck as I wish I was, so I’ve been helping with the organization here as well. It’s most logistics and working with supplies, but” she blinked a little and looked away, her eyes wet. “…I’ve been helping make lists of the wounded…and the dead. It’s not much and things are still so confused we don’t have much information, but at least we might be able to help someone that’s searching for answers.” She was twisting her fingers around each other now. He put a hand on her shoulder. 

“I’m sure they appreciate it,” they both knew that it had been each of them waiting like that not that long ago, not sure of what had happened and fearing the worst. He took his hand off her shoulder and tried not to think about those painful memories. “So I’ll be seeing you around here?” 

“Of course,” was the reply, “I….I’ve been keeping an eye on Shepard too. It will be nice to have someone else to talk to.” A friend she meant, he could read that in her voice without even trying. 

“Yeah,” he said then shook his head. “Well, time to get back to work before I drive myself insane, and hope the Primarch hasn’t heard about that little…incident earlier.” 

“Good lucky,” Liara said with a smile before they split and he set to work composing a message that would, hopefully make up for not reporting in right away.

*~*~

Victus’ reply was surprisingly quick given how much pressure he had to be under. Below the coordinates that gave the location of the command post, there was a small note from the other man mentioning he was glad that he was ‘glad you’re alive and mostly unharmed’. Now Garrus just felt guilty. In his own rush to get to Shepard he had completely forgotten that there might be people who were looking for him too. 

It was thirty minuets on foot to where his people had set up command, but luck was on his side for once and there was a transport heading in that direction. He managed to make it in under ten minutes. After that little fiasco back at the hospital it was something of a relief for the guards here to meet him with salutes and ‘sir’. That sort of respects still sent shocks of uneasiness through him. He had started to get used to it back on Menea,, but part of him still felt that this was just a mistake on someone’s part. It didn’t feel like something he had earned for himself. During odd moments he still had to stop himself from glancing over his shoulder to see who people were really talking to.

One of the guards told him that the Primarch was waiting for him, which wasn’t that surprising. There was still a massive amount to do before the turian forces could get organized enough to leave earth. All hands were needed for that. 

He found his friend in the center of the building, arguing with someone over the com. Garrus caught the other man’s eye and received a nod in return. As he waited for the Primarch to finish with his conversation, he walked around the room exchanging quiet words with some of the other turians there, trying to get a sense of the situation here in London. 

“It’s good to see you, Vakiran,” were the first words Victus said to him. There was a sense of honest relief there as they exchanged a brief arm clasp. 

“It’s good to see you too, sir,” he said politely. “Sorry abut the wait. Ran into a little ship trouble.” Garrus took a moment to study his friend. Victus didn’t look like he was injured, but there was a sense of exhaustion about him. Even with the war over there were still so many emergencies he wondered if Victus even had time to sleep. 

“I see,” was the dry response to that, “You’ll have to indulge my curiosity later.” He motioned back toward the counsel he had been working at. “I would insist that I hear the story now, but there’s much to do right now.” 

“Of course,” he said, following the Primarch back over the workstation. He would have cracked a joke about the Reapers being too inconsiderate to clean up after themselves, but that didn’t feel right, not with all the losses they had suffered. “What do you need me to do?”

Victus flicked something that might have been a grin at him. “You’ve already helped with on thing just by showing up. Now I won’t be making excuses to your father anymore.” 

“My..father?” Garrus wasn’t sure he had heard that right. How could his father have been gotten into contact with the Primarch? What was he even doing here? The last he had heard both him and Solana had been on a refugee ship!

“Yes. I believed he all but forced his way onto the fleet and insisted on taking part in the battle,” The Primarch glanced at him. “He did put in a request for your where about through official channels but, unofficially…I’ve had several damage reports that have somehow managed to mention he would be most pleased to know if we had heard anything about you.” Victus was clearly enjoying his discomfort, and his rank plus the presence of the other turians in the room kept Garrus from shooting back the reply he would like. 

“That does sound like something he would do,” he said instead. “I’m just surprised the Heirarchy let him do it.” His father had been retired. It should have taken much longer for anyone to get back into service. Not to mention it was hard to imagine his father, his _father_ of all people, coming that close to outright breaking the rules just for _information._

“We needed every soldier we could get,” Victus reminded him. “Your father’s history and abilities made him invaluable. He’s been organizing transportation of some of the wounded from the ground back up to the ships.”

Said like that, it was all to easy to picture his father stepping up and ordering around everyone in the operation He knew his father well enough to be able to admit that he was good at taken control of situations…even if there were situations only he saw the importance of. At least he was still alive. There had been so many ships during that battle, he didn’t want to think about how close his father had come to dying up there.  
“I’m surprised he unbent enough to slip in a request like that.” Better to think of that surprise than to remember how close he had been to losing him.

“He’s your father, Garrus. He’s worried,” Victus had gone slightly tense. “This war has been hard on all of us. Isn’t it natural to want to confirm what we do have left?” 

Suddenly Garrus remembered that his friend had lost a _son_ to this mess, and with a rush of guilt that no one in his family had been given enough time to properly morn his mother before the Reapers hit, and he had barely even thought about her, him included. It almost felt like a betrayal to her, to forget about her so easily. You could blame the war and the Reapers, but he knew his father hadn’t forgotten. He was just doing it again, screwing up where it mattered. 

“I’ll send my father a message,” he said. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say, but he would. It was the very least he owed the man. Even if he didn’t always see eye to eye, Victus was right. It was still has father. “But I don’t think you wanted me here to talk about family. What else do you need me to do?” Anything at all to change the subject. 

Thankfully, Victus seemed as eager to focus on something else as he was. “I need someone to be our go-between for the Alliance forces while we help with organization and prepare to pull out. You have the rank for the job, and more importantly you served with Commander Shepard. You’re more familiar with the Alliance than anyone else here right now.”

“I’m not really a politician,” he said, trying not to wince as he remembered his little confrontation. He doubted the Alliance would be thrilled to have ‘that crazy turian’ as a liaison between them and his people. Besides, he was still getting used to having his own people regard him with any respect. How was he suppose to get the Alliance to listen to him?

Victus gave a quiet snort that was probably far to undignified for a Primarch. “I’m not asking you to be one, at least not right now. I just need someone who’s familiar with humans and who can get their respect. You served on a human vessel with a living legend. That’s more than enough to qualify you for both points.” 

“You have a point, sir,” he was forced to admit. He wouldn’t think of anyone else who had anything close to the sort of experience he did. “What do you need me to do?” 

He worked alongside his friend for a while, dealing with reports from the fields and trying to keep up-to-date lists of the wounded and dead that the human patrols had found. His heart sank whenever he realized there were far more of the latter. It didn’t escape his notice that the Primarch kept looking at him oddly. Almost as if he was puzzled or waiting for Garrus to grow a second head, and he could not think of a single reason for his friend to be looking at him that way.

Before he could come up with a way to call him out on it, Victus answered his unspoken question. “Are you really all right, Vakarian?” It was during a small lull in the reports coming in and it gave him the room to relax a bit. 

“What, don’t believe me, Sir?” he said as politely as he could. Inwardly he was running over what he could have said to make his friend doubt him. 

“I’m not sure,” Victus leaned against his workstation. “You’re just…calmer than I expected.” 

“I’m not sure I understand.” 

Victus glanced around them quickly then dropped his voice slightly when he was sure on one was close enough to hear. “You haven’t even _mentioned_ Shepard’s name since you arrived here. I was sure I was going to have to keep you from dragging men off for a search party.” 

Garrus froze. “Ah..” it honestly hadn’t occurred to him that the Alliance would have kept the truth about Shepard from even the Primarch. His own fault for not realizing that they wouldn’t be willing to trust someone so far up in the Hierarchy. Now what was he suppose to do? He was sure that Victus wouldn’t intentionally do anything that would endanger Shepard, but he also knew that his friend’s rank and title meant he didn’t have the luxury to keep secrets. If duty forced Victus to tell someone where she was, and someone who wished her harm overheard… “I went looking for her before I contacted you,” he said to buy some time. “I got kicked out of the hospital after awhile. They acted like I was making a nuisance of myself.”

He did not want to lie to someone who he owed both his loyalty and friendship. But he didn’t want to betray Shepard either, and he was sure that was what her caretakers would call it. On the other hand, his people would call him keeping it to himself treason in it’s own right. A good turian wouldn’t even think about keeping this to himself. Not something he normally cared about, but Vicuts was a friend.

“You gave up that easily?” If Victus had heard anything regarding the ‘crazy turian’ from that area he didn’t show it. Instead he dropped his voice even lower. “Garrus,” and suddenly he knew it wasn’t the Primarch talking but just Adrian Victus, “I know damn well how much she meant to you. Your little display before the battle just made it even more obvious. You really want me to believe that you’re going to shrug and walk away when you don’t know what happened to her? That isn’t like you.” He sounded worried. 

Garrus was almost going to tell him the truth, but then he pictured what would happen if a bunch of turians suddenly knew where the Commander was. Saying Miranda would be annoyed would be an understatement. The Alliance leaders probably wouldn’t be very happy about it either. They might try to ban him from seeing Shepard again. Even if he managed to get past Miranda at least, Admiral Shepard probably wouldn’t forgive him for it. Not that he wasn’t willing to face her down, but if he made an enemy of her it would hurt Shepard. That wasn’t fair to her. Damn, why did his luck have to drop decisions like this on him?

He had to say _something_. Victus was looking at him. “You don’t know Shepard like I do,” he said at last. “She’s tough. She’ll come back.” 

He knew it didn’t fool the Primarch for a second. Victus actually looked as if he wanted to say something, but one of his men came up with a question and he was forced to make do with only a look that said he was going to bring it up later.

Garrus went back to work, trying to ignore the knot of guilt in his chest. All he had to do was stick it out until the rest of the Normandy crew arrived. He doubted that even the Alliance would be able to keep it secret with that many people wanting to see Shepard. He would tell Victus everything then, and hope that he would forgive him for that tiny bit of betrayal. 

He just hoped that by then Shepard would be awake and helping him explain. She had to wake up soon. She _had_ to.


	3. Intercept 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garrus and Hannah finally find time to have that talk.

Hannah Shepard finished reading over the latest inventory report that had been sent her way, and shook her head. She dashed off a quick reply to the field doctor who had made another note that they were running low on supplies and needed them now, reminding him that his request was cleared but the supplies could only arrive as fast as the shuttle could get there. The message was short and probably not as professional as it should be, but she didn’t care. Normally she would be a bit more sympathetic, but this was the fifth message inside the hour, and this was not the first time the doctor had tried to pull more supplies than he needed. She already disliked the man and she hadn’t even talked to him over vidcom yet. 

As her terminal bleeped with a ‘message sent’ she took the opportunity to stretch, wincing as something in her back popped in an unpleasant way. Damn. She couldn’t tell if that was from her recent injuries or if it was just another sign that she wasn’t as young as she used to me. She hoped it was the former. Old she could deal with. Decrepit was something she didn’t want to contemplate. 

There was a tiny knock on the wall behind her. “Ma’am?” 

She swiveled around in her chair, unsurprised to see the woman standing there. Lieutenant Dorthea Mansfield was officially classified as her assistant, but in reality they both knew she was here to keep an eye on her superior. Hannah couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit of envy that the tall woman didn’t look that much different than she had when she had served on her ship several years ago. She’d gained some muscle and a few scars but still wore her blond hair shaved close and still had those stormy gray eyes that made her hard to read. She wondered why Mansfield had even bothered to knock. Her ‘office’ was just a desk thrown in the corner of a mostly intact building. There wasn’t even a door left in the frame that lead into it. 

“Lieutenant,” she said by way of greeting, “I take it this means that I’m about to get thrown out?” 

“I’m bit more polite than that, ma’am,” Mansfield said, a small smile crossing her lips and making her seem less harsh. “But I do have orders to remind you that you’re ‘only human, damn it.’ I assume that means I’m to make sure you take a break when you’re scheduled to.”

“Next time Hackett gives you order like that, could you kindly remind him that I’m not made of glass and I’m not an invalid?” Hannah rolled her shoulders a bit. “I’m only a few days away from being cleared. I don’t need a _minder_ , especially when all I’ve been allowed to do is sit at a desk for days. I doubt paperwork is going to kill me.” That seemed to be the mindset of half the people that she ran into. They kept asking her if she needed to rest or take a break. It had been going on for days and she was getting very, very tired of it.

“I don’t know about that Admiral. I would probably die of boredom,” Mansfield quipped, startling a chuckle from her. “While I respect you, admire you, Admiral, and I have no problem standing up to Admiral Hackett for you, I do not want to face another lecture by your doctor. Man doesn’t need a gun when he can rip you to pieces with his tongue.” 

She shook her head, trying to hold back a laugh at the truth of that statement. “You don’t know the half it, Mansfield. _I’m_ the one who had to listen to him rave about me walking around before he thought I was ready. As if I don’t know my body well enough to tell when I’m pushing it to far.” 

“If you say so ma’am,” was the polite reply, but she didn’t miss the Lieutenant trying to hide a smile.

“Something amusing, Mansfield?” She sent a glare at the Lieutenant as she spoke but didn’t try to hide her own smile. 

Mansfield snapped up straighter. “Nothing, ma’am!” You could still see that smile though. Hannah let herself sigh and shake her head. 

“Half my men seem to think they know more than I do,” she couldn’t help comment as she got to her feet and found her cane. At least the Lieutenant didn’t try to help her up this time. The one thing she had made very clear she would not tolerate that. She was a rear admiral, commander of a ship of her own. She didn’t need a nursemaid.  
“I don’t suppose there’s something I could offer you that would convince you to look the other way for a couple of hours?” She was tired of being treated with kid gloves. There had to be _something_ they would let her work at.

“Afraid not, Ma’am,” was the calm reply. “I’m here to make sure you actually make it to the hospital in time.” Hannah resisted the urge to snap at her. She also knew, from past experience, that if she tried to hang around to do something else in another part of the building, someone else would report her to Hackett. Then would come the lecture about her health. She was not going to suffer through another of those.

“Fine then, let’s go and get this over with.” At least each visit she took to that damn place was one closer to her being released, and her daughter was there. She would go vist after her appointment if they wouldn’t let her back to work.

~O~O~O~O~O~O

The hospital seemed slightly more crowded than usual when she arrived. She might have just waved it off as her own temper getting the better of her, but then she noticed most of the new arrivals were turian. Even though she knew turians were being treated here, there were more than she had seen before strolling the premises. Not enough to really be alarming, but they didn’t look injured or if they were there searching for friends. They were standing in pairs talking, alert and scanning the crowds for any signs of trouble. She knew security when she saw it, but she couldn’t imagine why they were here of all places. There was already a multi-species security detail assigned to the area. Unless there had been a threat of some kind she wasn’t aware of, the soldiers would have been of more use elsewhere. It just didn’t seem like the turians to waste manpower over something minor.  
There was still no answer she could see by the time she reached her doctor, and put it out mind in favor of dealing with his ‘you are working to hard’ arguments. They’d been playing this game since she was injured, and each time left her feeling like she wanted to strangle the man. At least the end was in sight for both of them. The man might not be happy about it, but he was letting her go in a couple of days. Even if it was with a ‘I don’t want to do this but I suppose I must’ attitude in his every word. Attitude she could deal with, even if it was getting under her skin and making her want to growl. Some of her crewmembers could be worse. Not many, but some. She had to remember that. 

“Just be sure that you have that hip looked at regularly,” he warned as she stood to leave after the physical. “You keep abusing it without regular care and you are going to end up limping around for the rest of your life. Don’t say I didn’t warn you about that!” 

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she called over her shoulder to him as she left the room, making way for another of his patients. 

Once outside his office she turned her steps toward the guarded wing of the hospital. Hackett wouldn’t let her _do_ anything if she headed back right away. There was already a neat little message on her omnitool telling her that much. At least she could sit with Lil for a time. She was allowed to stay longer now, something she actually was grateful for.   
One of the various Normandy crew members that had been turning up over the last three days had been the ship’s doctor. Dr. Chakwas had argued with Lawson about the restrictions placed on visitors. She still wasn’t sure what the older woman had said to Lawson, but after that she hadn’t had the former Cerberus agent breathing down her neck over how long she was there. Granted she hadn’t seemed happy the last time they had run into each other, but at least she wasn’t trying to stop her. 

Of course, those lessening restrictions applied to anyone cleared to see Lil. Everyone. Hannah took a deep breath and tried to keep from frowning at the thought of how often Vakarian had been all but haunting her daughter’s room. Four days since she had meet the man and she still wasn’t sure what to think of that relationship. She would like to think her trepidation only had to do with not having a single clue about what the man was really like, but if she was being honest with herself she would have to admit that him being turian might have more to do with her feelings than she would like. She had thought she was above the prejudice the Alliance had tried to drill into her. Apparently she had been wrong.

She didn’t even really have much reason _to_ object to Vakarian yet. They hadn’t even had a decent conversation. There had been a few chances for it, but neither of them had known how to start that sort of talk, and message pings from omnitools had become a welcome distraction. She knew it was cowardly, avoiding it instead of facing things head on. Maybe there was just a part of her that was afraid of what her daughter would do if she decided she didn’t like the turian. She and Lil just weren’t as close as they had been when she had been younger. Hannah didn’t want to do something that would outright drive her away. She wasn’t even sure what _would_ drive her away anymore or if Lil even wanted her in her life anymore. She certainly had seemed to be intent on keeping herself aloof the last time they had talked. It was an uncomfortable feeling, and one she still wasn’t sure what to do about.

The gloomy direction of her thoughts was shattered when she rounded the corner that lead to the check point and stopped dead. At least having the turian Primarch in the hospital explained the security presence in the sector. It just didn’t explain what he was doing here. She started walking again, trying to edge around as unobtrusively as she could but something must have alerted him because he looked over at her. 

“Admiral Shepard,” he said soft in greeting, “I didn’t think I would run into you here.” 

“Primarch Victus,” she said politely. She had meet the Primarch previously when he had come to see the Crucible personally, not wanting to rely on reports to describe what was the final hope for all their peoples. That was something she had to respect. “I could say the same for you. I wasn’t aware that you were injured.” Not that she thought he really was. The Primarch wasn’t unmarked but he didn’t look as if he had any injuries severe enough to bring him all the way here.  
Besides, if the highest-ranking turian on the planet had been hurt _that_ badly she would have heard something about it by now. Gossip was one thing that all species seemed to share.

He must have known that because he made a noise she _thought_ might have been amused. “I could say the same for you,” he said, amused. “I’m not here for myself. General Corinthus managed to get himself shot and your people have been treating him. They’ve been doing an admirable job, but now he’s stable enough to be transferred. I think that would be best for him. Not that your doctors haven’t been doing their best...” 

“But they’re humans and he’s a turian,” she said noticing several low pitched growls that were more heard than felt. Apparently some of his men didn’t approve of her cutting on their Primarch. At least Victus didn’t seem to mind. He seemed more amused by his men’s reaction than anything else. “Most of the doctors here are Alliance and more used to treating humans. They’ll probably be relieved to hand him over.” 

“Considering half them seemed to want to dance with joy when I told them about the transfer, I would have to agree with you on that,” the Primarch chuckled. “Now they won’t have to worry about accidentally killing Corinthus with levo exposure.” 

“They’ll probably be sending you thank you cards then,” she said, “but that doesn’t explain why you came personally. I can’t imagine that Primarchs normally oversee patient transfers.” 

That got another chuckle. “Corinthus served under me. He’s a good soldier; the least I could do was see to this personally.” 

By now Hannah had noticed that most of his men weren’t really paying attention to their conversation anymore. One still looked as if they didn’t like her informal tone, but since the Primarch wasn’t taking offense at it he couldn’t really shoo her away. He probably didn’t have any idea that she and the Primarch had talked several times while he was at the Crucible. Not enough for her to be able to call him friend exactly, but enough that she had some measure of the sort of man he was. A soldier, not a politician. “Your loyalty to your men is admirable,” she said out loud. She’s sure there’s more to it than that, but she’s not going to push him. 

He gives a slight nod. “It’s the least I can do,” is the reply. The Primarchs mandibles twitch after he says it. “What about you, Admiral?” his gaze flickered toward her cane. She hadn’t had it the last time she had talked with him. “A personal visit?” Curiosity was something that apparently ran across all species. At least she was fairly sure he wouldn’t laugh at her story.

“I was careless and got slammed into a wall when my ship took a hit,” she answered his unspoken question. “I didn’t think I was that badly hurt. It wasn’t until the end of the battle when the adrenaline started to wear off that I realized I shouldn’t really be walking around. The medical team stuck me on leave the moment they got a good look at me.” 

“You’re walking around now,” the Primarch observed. “I take it that means you’re recovering well? Or just avoiding doctor’s orders?” 

“I’ll be returned to active duty in a few days,” she didn’t try to keep the relief out of her voice. “Which I am grateful for. I thought the inactivity would drive me mad. I have too much to do to be sitting around all day.” 

That got a chuckle out of him, even if it was a strained one. “I think everyone has that feeling at the moment. Not enough hands for everything that needs to be done.” There was something in his voice that made her look closely at him. If it had been one of her men, she would have said it was exhaustion. Was it the same for turians? She still couldn’t really read the subtle changes in their voices well, but she couldn’t imagine they would be all that different from humans. 

She settled on what she hoped was a more subtle response. “I have to keep an eye on my men because of that,” she said slowly, “those that made it out mostly unharmed feel guilty about and keep pushing themselves. I have to keep remind them that pushing yourself too much will only make you wreck yourself and be unable to help anyone.” And then hoped she hadn’t misread everything and made a fool of herself. 

The Primarch blinked, at her, his mandibles flared, and for a heartstopping moment she thought that she had presumed too much and managed to insult him. Then he made a soft sound that seemed like a sigh and one of his men snorted.   
”See, sir?” the man, a turian with light grey skin and vivid purple markings, said. “I told you that you need to take a rest. You haven’t taken a real break since the reapers first hit. You aren’t going to last much longer if even humans are noticing.” He paused and looked at her in alarm, mandibles wide on his face as he realized what he just said. “Sorry ma’am, I didn’t mean any disrespect.”

She couldn’t help chuckling a little at that expression. “None taken. I will freely admit I’m not an expert on turians. Believe me, I’m sure if I have suspicions then it’s outright obvious to everyone else.”

“I would suspect this was a trap that my men laid to convince me to rest for a day, but I’m not sure that it would occur to any of them to recruit a human for a venture like that,” he turned his gaze on the man who had just spoken, who stood a little straighter. Then he flicked amber eyes back to her. “What about you, Admiral? I can’t imagine that this has been easy for you either but you seem to be doing well, despite everything.” He was giving her an appraising look. 

“You can thank my doctors for that. If you think your men are bad, imagine how bad they would be when they had orders to look after your health, and taking it as their sworn duty to enforce every order the doctors had given.”

The Primarch gave an amused snort in response to both her comment and the grumbling from one his men that sounded vaguely like ‘We should be so lucky’ before he replied. “Your men must care about you a great deal if they’re willing to go through that kind of trouble. You should be honored. “ 

“I am,” she said. “I’ve just been lucky to attract people as loyal as they are.” 

The Primarch’s reply was unexpected. “Luck that you seemed to have shared with your daughter. She was remarkably adept at finding loyal crew members.” 

“She still is, I imagine,” was her reply. “You shouldn’t count her out just yet. She’ll be back.” It was only after the words left her mouth that they sounded slightly accusatory and she tensed. Her own fears were affecting her judgment now. That was not good. She had thought that she had learned better self-control over the years, but like so many other things, it appeared she was wrong about that. 

Instead of seeming to be insulted, however, the Primarch just gave her a measuring look. “You seem so sure of that,” he said at last. “Your faith is admirable. Almost as if you have a reason beyond just wishful thinking to support it.” 

Hannah felt her heart leap. Victus was no fool. He had already proved that during the war. She didn’t think the man would hold any ill will towards her daughter, but after all the effort they had put into keeping things quiet for this long she didn’t feel like giving up the secret that easily. “Call it mother’s intuition. You’ve met my daughter. You know how stubborn she is. Do you really think even a Reaper could be able to take her out?” 

That brought on a bark of laughter from him. “I will admit, if there’s anyone who would be able to come back from the Reapers, it would be Commander Shepard. She’s already come back from the impossible once.” Hannah squashed down the familiar feeling of fear and pain that shot through her whenever someone mentioned her daughter’s previous ‘death’. She still had no clear answers for what had happened then and didn’t like to remember the time spent mourning her.   
Victus started speaking again. “Perhaps that’s why I’ve heard an...interesting rumor about her where about recently.” He looked directly at her as he said it, his eyes meeting hers briefly. 

“Which one? There’s been a shit-ton of rumors floating around Primarch, most entirely baseless.” Was what her mouth said. Inwardly she was cursing, hoping Victus wasn’t getting at what he thought he was. She had been afraid of this ever since the rest of her daughter’s crew had been arriving. Secrets were hard to keep when so many people knew about them. Someone was bound to let something slip, eventually. This secret had been hard to keep before, but now it was going to be nearly impossible. 

“True,” was Victus’ reply. “I’ve been ignoring most of them. This one, however, seems to have some credibility.” 

“What makes you say that?” 

“Just a feeling combined with my own observation,” his eyes still held that far-to-knowing gaze. “I’ve seen you in action, Admiral, and I looked at your service record. Someone with your sense of duty could perhaps be able to maintain a professional calm even without news of your daughter. Others, however, shouldn’t be showing that sort of....restraint.” 

“You mean like Garrus Vakarian?” she couldn’t help asking. She knew, just from reading reports the Alliance had sent her about the Normandy, that he had been an advisor to the Primarch. On board her ship she had even overheard the Primarch speaking with the other turian over a secure channel when she went to place a report of her own. It wasn’t a secret that Vakarian had been serving on the Normandy either. She could very well guess where the Primarch was going with his line of reasoning. What surprised her was that she was going along with it. 

“You know him?” that did bring some surprised into the Primarch’s voice as his mandibles flared slightly. 

“We’ve...met.” 

“I see,” the Primarch stood a little straighter. “Then you should understand what I meant. He and your daughter were...close. It’s unlike him not to be personally pursuing any sort of rescue or recovery mission. The only conclusion that makes sense is that he knows something that I don’t.” There’s a sound in his subvocals that her translator isn’t even trying to touch, and she doesn’t have a clue what it could mean. Not that it really mattered anyway. She shouldn’t be surprised that a turian military leader was clever as he was. 

“If he knew something important I’m sure that he would tell you,” while she did respect the man, she wasn’t friendly enough with him to be willing to risk her daughter. “And I’m well aware of the relationship she and Vakarian share,” she added at the end, to throw him off track. “I’m surprised you were aware of it.” 

“Soldiers talk between fighting, I’m sure you know that,” he said after a moment. “I had my suspicions when almost all his old war stories involved Commander Shepard in some way. You could hear it in his voice how fond he was of her. They made things rather _obvious_ before the final push against the reapers.” 

It was on the tip of Hannah’s tongue to ask what he meant by that, then decided it was probably better that she didn’t know. “He was serious about her?” she asked instead. 

“That would not be my place to say,” the Primarch locked his hands behind his back, “but most turians would not enter into something like that lightly.” His mandibles flared again, confusing her. “I doubt Vakairan is that different. He’s very loyal, and passionate. He tends to throw himself into things. Which is why I say it’s out of character for him not to be out searching for Commander Shepard, and demanding that anyone with authority help. I expected that I would have to fight to keep him from taking men away. While I wouldn’t call him exactly calm in current circumstances he has been showing far more restraint than I would think.” He relaxed slightly. “He’s also been leaving as soon as his shift is done. One report suggests he has been coming here.” 

“There are any number of wounded here. Perhaps he’s just searching,” was what she said in reply to the questioning tone. “I have seen him around more than once. It suggests a certain level of devotion for him to keep coming here again and again.” 

“As I said, turians don’t make that kind of commitment lightly,” he repeated with a nod. “Vakairan especially.” She was getting tired of the piercing looks he was giving her. There was a reason that so many Alliance soldiers had been intimidated by that predators gaze back during the First Contact War. “I am curious just how you found out about his relationship with her. Even back on the Normandy it wasn’t something either of them ever announced.” 

Hannah froze, trying to determine how much of the truth she should say about that. Thankfully she was saved from having to formulate a real answer by a bleep from the Primarch’s omnitool. It was a struggle not to sag in relief when he checked it, sighed, then looked up at her.   
“I’m afraid our conversation will have to be cut short, Admiral. I have something I have to attend to.” 

“Of course,” she stepped aside for him and his men. “It was nice speaking with you, Primarch.” Well, only half true. She wouldn’t have minded talking with him if he wasn’t being so damn clever. At least it had been good to see that one more person she knew was still alive. She had already lost far too many in this war.  
He gave a nod as he left, turning to speak rapidly to one of his men as they went. She waited until he was out of sight before she slipped off down the hall to her daughter’s room. He was already too suspicious of things. No need to give him any more fuel for the fire. 

Down the hall, through the checkpoints, and she found Dr. Chakwas standing in front of her daughter’s room, typing something on a datapad. 

“Dr. Chakwas,” she said by way of greeting. “Any changes so far?”

“Only very minor ones,” Dr. Chakwas didn’t even look up right away. “I do believe she’s been improving but we won’t know for sure until she actually wakes up.” The good doctor finally looked back up at her. “You look better yourself, Admiral. I take it you are going to push through with the chance to be back on active duty soon?” 

“Of course,” Hannah glanced at the door to her daughter’s room. “I’ve had enough of being treated like I’m made of glass.” 

That drew an amused laugh from the doctor. “I imagine your doctor will be pleased when he doesn’t have to deal with the headache either.” 

She couldn’t help snorting a little. “You do realize that some people might reprimand you for disrespecting a senior officer?” 

“With all due respect Admiral, I have worked for the Alliance long enough to be able to tell when I can push things and when I can’t,” Dr. Chakwas looked up, a smile flickering across her face. “Since you haven’t insisted on formality so far then I can assume I’m safe.” 

Hannah had developed a healthy respect for the doctor over the last few days, and had honestly enjoyed her company. They got along surprisingly well and she found herself almost wishing the woman had been assigned to her vessel. Only _almost_ though. She had been a great asset to the Normandy and she was glad her daughter had been in capable hands, both then and now. 

“Can I go in then?” she asked, nodding towards the door. 

“Of course,” there was a paused, “but I suppose it’s fair to warn you that Garrus is already there.” 

“Already?” the word came out before she could stop it, then she sighed. “I suppose I should have expected it. He’s been here how often since you lifted Miranda’s ban?” she didn’t mean for it to sound as accusatory as it did and forced herself to take a deep breath after it. 

Dr. Chakwas gave her a crippling _look_. “Are you surprised? He would be there all day if I let him. It’s probably a good thing he’s assisting the Primarch. If he wasn’t then I have no doubt he would be haunting the hospital. I’m still not entirely sure he’s not taking a spare bed here at night.” 

“He’s that worried?” 

“Do I even _need_ to answer that, Admiral?” Dr. Chakwas finally finished whatever she had been doing on the datapad. “Both of you are worried, he’s just much worse at keeping it under control.” It brought a sigh from the doctor. “The same could be said for all of us, truthfully. That’s why Miranda placed so many restrictions, I think. It was her own way of worrying. She has seen the Commander at her absolute worst, several times over. Unfortunately I fear that’s made Miss. Lawson more than a bit paranoid. She did have the Commander’s best interests at heart I’m sure, but she had forgotten that she’s not all knowing. Right now, the Commander doesn’t need quiet, she needs the support of those she loves.” 

Hannah knew that the doctor had been referring to all the various friends and crew members that had arrived. It still didn’t stop her mind from flashing to the turian she knew was by her daughter’s bedside. “It seems like I’m the only one who didn’t know about _them_ ,” the last said with a jerk of her head towards the door.

“Parents are always the last to know,” Dr. Chakwas said teasingly, but the smile she gave was more genuine. “Although I’m not sure I can say that’s the case right now. The Commander was very discreet about her relationships. She always has been. The people you’ve been meeting, those were the ones close enough to her that they figured things out or she felt relaxed enough to tell them. Even most of her crew wasn’t entirely sure of the truth. Gossip runs rampant on ships, but to most it was just rumors. No real proof, no matter what they said.”

“Rumors aren’t just limited to ships,” Hannah couldn’t help saying. “I’ve lost track of the number of reporters that coming buzzing around me asking if Lil really was ‘in bed with the aliens’. Chased them off of course, but I thought they were just fishing. I didn’t think there was any substance behind them.” She remembered, rather guilty, saying something to the effect of ‘Would it really matter if she was?’ right before she’d had all but threw one particularly obnoxious reporter off her ship. She really hadn’t thought about what she was saying at the time, but remembering it in the current circumstances was more than a little uncomfortable. “The turian Primarch seemed to know about that little relationship,” she said to distract herself from her thoughts. “Maybe they weren’t as discreet as you though.” 

“The Primarch?” Dr. Chakwas frowned and glanced at her. “He was on the ship for the war summit, and the Commander did say he was a friend of Garrus’. Perhaps that’s how he found out.” She shrugged, “If you’re that curious why don’t you try asking Garrus himself? He is right there after all.” Dr. Chackwas nodded towards the door. Hannah had to wonder if the other woman had somehow found out about own avoidance. 

“What makes you think he would even answer?” 

“Unless it’s a truly embarrassing story I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t,” was the reply. “He isn’t one to lie, even without the turian heritage backing him.” A pause then. “He does want the two of you to get along, you know. Give him a chance.”

She gave Chakwas a sharp look. “Is there some conspiracy I’m not aware of? That’s the second time today I’ve heard Vakarian praised.” The Primarch was at least understandable. Vakarian was a fellow turian after all. Dr. Chakwas was another matter, but they had served on a ship together. Maybe that was the source of it. 

“Not a conspiracy I’m aware of,” Chakwas counter, “but I am surprised you haven’t heard more praise. Even the Alliance has to be aware of what he did during the war. You should have heard what some of the turians we had on board had to say about him.” 

In answer, Hannah just stepped up to the window and looked inside. She would see Vakarian already in a seat next to her daughter’s bed, head bent down towards hers. It was impossible to ignore the reports that were connected to his name. She knew, on some level at least, that if it had anyone else she would have been whole-heartedly agree with that praise. But it wasn’t just anyone. It was the turian who had somehow managed to worm his way into her daughter’s heart. That was making this so much more complicated. She wasn’t sure what to believe, particularly if certain parts of his history were to be believed. 

“He’s been good for Shepard you know,” Dr. Chakwas said from behind her. “During the war I think he was one of the few things that kept her sane. He has always stood by her, no matter what.” 

“Now I know that something has to be going on,” she turned to face the doctor. “He’s a friend of yours, I understand why you feel the need to stick up for him...”

“Trust me,” Dr. Chakwas said, “Garrus is more than capable of sticking up for himself. He’s not the one I’m speaking for right now.” She turned to a message that had come through her omnitool then, and Admiral Shepard was left unsure of what to say. 

Part of her wanted to be annoyed that the doctor thought she knew her daughter well enough to be able to say that about her. Part of her knew that Dr. Chakwas had known her daughter for several years, knew what her relationship with the turian was like, and perhaps was trying to support her. The rest of her was caught up in some many conflicting emotions about someone being able to read her daughter better than she could that she couldn’t even being to decipher them all. Instead she took a deep breath, pushed them all aside, and glanced back at the hospital room again. 

“I should go see her,” she said out loud. It felt like an admission of something but she wasn’t sure what that would be. 

“Of course,” was the only answer from the doctor as she opened the door and went inside. 

~0~0~0~0

Vakarian glanced up as she came in tensing for a moment. “Admiral,” he said respectfully. “Is it really that late? Didn’t think you would be here for a while longer.” His mandibles clicked tight against his face right after he said the words. “Sorry, I just meant..”

The first reply on the tip of her tongue was one she bit back. “Hackett isn’t letting me work very long until I’m cleared. Walking wounded remember?” As she had been speaking, Vakarian started to get out of his chair, eyes on her cane.

“I remember. If you want I can..” 

“Relax,” she said as she limped around to the other side of the bed. Another chair had been brought into the room a couple of days ago. She remembered seeing it, and was pleased to see that it was still there. She sank down into it, hoping the action looked more controlled than it was. “I’m not kicking you out. Sit down.” 

He still watched her, looking slightly unsure. It was only after she was seated that he sat down as well. They sat that way, the silence uncomfortable. She noticed his hand drifted over to rest on her daughter’s again, but decided she wouldn’t say anything about it. Instead she leaned over, studying Lil’s face in an attempt to see anything different in it today. Maybe she appeared a bit more...relaxed? Or maybe it was just her own wistful thinking that made it seem that way. 

“I’ve been trying to talk to her,” Vakarian broke the silence first. She wasn’t surprised. He seemed to like talking. She turned to look at him. “Dr. Chakwas thinks it will help. Even Miranda says it _might_ do something, which says something coming from her.”

“I remember hearing the same,” Hannah agreed. “It can’t hurt. Reminds her there’s something here to come back to.” Although which one she would be coming back to Hannah didn’t want to know. Still her words brought a slight hum from Vakarian. She didn’t know for sure what that meant, but it sounded like some sort of agreement. She studied the turian for a moment, and then decided to just ask him. Dr. Chakwas was right in some ways. She needed to talk him.   
“Did you know the Primarch was here?” 

“The Primarch?” Vakarian didn’t look particularly surprised. “Today? I knew he was planning on coming but he didn’t mention anything about specific dates to me. It’s about Corinthus, right?” He shrugged, “It would make sense for him to come personally, but it’s nothing I could help with. Probably why he didn’t think to give me specifics.” 

“So, he and Corinthus are....friends?” she said out loud as she digested that. It made some sort of sense she supposed. 

“Not really...hmm...” Vakarian gave an odd clicking noise and tilted his head as if considering something. “Let’s just say that after Primarch Victus left Menae Corinthuswas the one who held the moon against the reapers before he came here. Succeeding at a lost cause has a tendency to impress people. Victus is well...he’s a damn good Primarch. I’m not sure we would have been able to make it if it had been anyone else. But his track record and some of his decisions have made more than a few people start to question him.” There was a growl at the end that she heard more than felt. 

At least it answered why the Primarch had come personally. Political bullshit. “I bet he loves having to dance that little tune.” 

Something in her tone must have gotten through to Vakairan because his head snapped up to look at her. “You know him?” 

“We meet when he came to observe the Crucible,” she said mildly. “I just didn’t realize how much he knew about your relationship with Lil until today. I wonder how he found that out.” 

“I haven’t told him about where she is, if that’s what you’re getting at,” Vakarian said, the subvocals on his voice going a little deeper. “He’s a _friend_. I might have mentioned that I was close to her. Don’t try to tell me that’s anything wrong.” 

“Oh, he mentioned something about that. He also mentioned something about being ‘very obvious’ before the final push against the reapers,” Hannah leaned back in her chair a little. “It’s funny, I’ve never heard a turian use that tone of voice before. Something clearly amused him.” 

“Oh,” Vakarian seemed to freeze for a second. “Hmm...” his hand left Lil’s for a moment. “That’s..” she noticed his finger twisting together a little as he shifted slightly in his chair. “Giving a kiss goodbye is a human tradition, isn’t it? I mean, the vids seemed to make it seem like it was. Pretty sure most species have something like although turians aren’t usual very umm..public about it?” He was half looking everywhere but at her by this point. It was kind of amusing actually. She had never seen a sheepish looking turian before. Apparently being awkward in front of your partner’s parents was something that crossed species boundaries.

“I didn’t know turians could kiss,” she said out loud. That hadn’t been something she had thought of before, and she wouldn’t have asked if seeing him flustered wasn’t slightly amusing. Besides, it would keep her from thinking about old memories long buried. Her husband was over twenty years gone, but she could still recall exactly what they had said at that last goodbye. Not something she wanted Vakarian to see on her face.   
He looked at her with wide yes, mandibles clenched tightly to his face. “We ah, don’t usually? It’s um, different. We can learn. Sort of. Or try to at least. With a willing partner.” The subvocals in his voice had inched higher. She wondered if that was turian speak for ‘really, really embarrassed’. They couldn’t blush obviously. 

She supposed that Lil wouldn’t be too happy with her at the moment, but she was her mother. It was her right to make suitors squirm. 

Besides, as amusing as it was to watch him, she still had a far more important question to ask. 

“Are you sure you didn’t let something slip about Lil being alive? Because the Primarch all but told me he knew she was when we spoke.” 

“What?” Vakarian blinked a little, confused by the change of subject for a second. “No. Look, I know you don’t really trust me, but believe me I’ve been being careful. I might not have said anything obvious, but Victus is smart. I wouldn’t put it past him to have pieced everything together himself.”

“I just thought it was odd that you would keep something like that from someone you considered a friend. If he has figured it out, even without help, what do you think he’ll do with that information?” 

That got a slight growl out of him. For what exactly she couldn’t tell. Her implications? Just that she was keeping up uncomfortable questions? It didn’t matter in the end really.  
“Victus is a friend yes, but I’m well aware of the Primarch of Palaven. He might guess she’s alive, but he doesn’t know where she is, and I’m never going to let that slip.” One of his hands had dropped to his knee, fingers drumming out a nervous rhythm. “I don’t think anything would happen, but I know if something did and it was a choice between Palaven and Shepard, he would give her up without a second thought. I’m not risking that.”

“What about you though?” her question was quiet and she kept her voice even, but Vakairan jerked just the same. “If it was a choice between your people and Lil, what would you do?” 

“What?” He was growling now, his subvocals deep enough that she could feel them. “You’re going to ask _that_? Really? How can you expect someone to just answer that?“ 

“I know it’s not an easy question,” she agreed. “But I’m curious. Everyone I’ve met has mentioned loyalty when it comes to you. What exactly does that mean?”

“Is there even really a correct answer to that question?” Vakarian was glaring at her now voice rumbling deep enough that she felt it. “I’m by Shepard’s side no matter what happens. That doesn’t mean I’ve abandoned everything that I know, or that I’ve lost all loyalty to my people.”

“You still haven’t answered my question,” she couldn’t help pointing out. “You sound almost like a politician right now. One with something he doesn’t want to admit to.” 

“I’m not answering because I don’t think that’s something I need to answer. What matters to me is what Shepard, _Lil_ , thinks of me. She’s the most important thing in the galaxy to me right now, and nothing is going to get me to abandon her. I’ve stayed with her, even when half the damn galaxy was against her. That isn’t going to change anytime soon.” 

“So you’ll give up your people for her? I’ll admit I’m more than a bit surprised by that. I thought you turians would die rather than give up everything for a human.” 

“I may not be the best turian, but that doesn’t mean I’m giving up on my people,” Vakairan growled, fists clenching on his knees. “I would appreciate you not putting words in my mouth like that. What I meant was that I care about Shepard. She needs me, and to be perfectly honest, I need her. More than my people need me right now. More than they could possibly ever need me. I never _want_ to be away from her.” 

She hadn’t noticed how intense his eyes were before, half because she hadn’t been paying attention and half because she didn’t think she’d had him glaring at her before. It was actually fairly menacing when combined with the faint growl humming in his subvocals. A sharp reminder that turians were, at their core, predators. She also had realized that she was pushing and that he was right. There was no right answer to that question. It didn’t stop that thread of annoyance at him for dodging around the question, for being here, for apparently knowing more what had been happening with her daughter than she did, and for everyone seeming to be urging her to just be grateful to him for _being_ there. She wasn’t even really sure why it was annoying her, but it was. 

“Pretty words. Almost like something straight out of a romance vid. But words are cheap Vakarian. How do I know you can live up to them?”

He half jerked to his feet, voice practically rumbling at her. “You’re asking _that?_ I think I’ve damn well proved that already. I’m the one that was standing with her when she was stuck with Cerberus since your Alliance and half the galaxy wasn’t ready to get up off their asses and admit that something was wrong. The only reason I ever left was because I knew damn well the Alliance wouldn’t let me near her if I was there. They weren’t even willing to let me testify for her!” He sat back a little, that growl still underlying his vocals when he spoke. “She mentioned you contacted her when we went after the Collectors, but I didn’t see you there when they dragged her in for doing the right thing.” 

She stiffened, rising her own glare to meet his. “I’m the captain of a ship, I have a responsibility to my crew. Unlike you, I couldn’t just abandon my duties to rush to her side. I wasn’t even informed she had turned herself in until the Alliance had her in custody.” She remembered that message well. That was one of the few times she had broken with protocol and turned her ship back towards Earth. None of her crew had even tried to refuse her. “I came here as soon as I could. The Alliance didn’t want me here either. I barely got any chance to speak with her at all. You do not get to say that I didn’t care.”

“Then don’t accuse me of the same thing,” Vakairan’s hands were gripping the edge of the bed, fingers digging into the sheets. “Shepard and I are together. That’s not changing any time soon.” 

“That’s what you say” she said tightly. “But like I said, words are cheap and these are your words. Since Lil has developed an aversion to talking with her mother about the most important things in her life, I believe you can understand why I’m a little skeptical” 

Vakarian snarled something under his breath that her translator didn’t catch, but he was also looking at her...oddly almost, head cocked the side. “Can’t you trust...”

A sudden beep from the machine made them both jump and her gaze snapped over to Lil’s. She froze, waiting, watching. Had her eyelids twitched a little? She wasn’t sure how many long past before her mind came to the sad conclusion, that no, Lil hadn’t decided to return to them just yet. A breath she hadn’t been aware she was holding left her lips as she left tense muscles relax. 

Only then did she realize she was half out of her chair and didn’t even remember standing. Something sour twisted in her gut. Had she really lost such control of her emotions that she hadn’t even realized that? She had been arguing with her daughter’s boyfriend at her _sickbed_. And over what exactly? She wasn’t even sure anymore. 

She glanced over at Vakairan. He had moved up right next to Lil’s head and was standing there, hovering. After a couple of seconds he looked up and their eyes meet for a moment. Both of them looked away. The former tension that had been in the room was shattered and gone, instead replaced by something akin to embarrassment from both of them. 

After a couple of false tries, of him opening and closing his mouth as he tried to find words, Vakairan was once again the one to break the silence. “That...really didn’t go well.” 

She had the feeling it was said as much to himself as to her, but it still brought a bark of laughter. “No, it didn’t,” she agreed as she slowly eased back into her chair. 

“The vids said that it might go that way, but I thought I could...” that was definately more to himself with her. He hadn’t really moved to sit down, but he was shifting his weight slightly from one foot to the other and twisting his talons around each others. 

“Vids?” she repeated, raising an eyebrow. 

“I ah, was trying to figure out what the human protocol was for..this,” he made a sort of gesture between them. She wasn’t sure what to think of that little piece of information. The only sort of vids she could think of that would show this sort of situation at all were the drama vids that were so popular...unless they had started making instructional vids for this sort of situation, which she very much doubted. That she had been acting like those women in the vids though, that was a bit of a wake up call. She had never thought she was ever be that bad. 

“There really isn’t much protocol for something like this,” she knew the dry words were only there because she really didn’t want to speak. It was pride more than anything else, she knew that, so she forced herself to go on. “This time, it might have been my fault,” the words hurt to say, “you were right, that question wasn’t fair.” 

“Oh, I know I was,” was Vakarian’s reply. She wasn’t sure if she was annoyed at the cocky attitude or the fact that he was right. “It would be like asking you to choose between the Alliance and your daughter.” He paused, talons twisting around each other as he glanced at Lil for a moment, then looked back at her. “I meant what I said about staying with her. I don’t want to fight you about it, but I will if I have to.” 

Hannah took a deep breath and bit back the first reply a statement like that brought on. Instead she glanced over at her daughter. Was it really worth picking a fight over something like this? “I doubt she would be pleased about that,” she said instead. Then she looked back up at the turian. “Can I ask you another question then? A fair one this time, I promise.” 

“What is it?” She could blame him for how wary he sounded. 

“Why are you with her?” She held up a hand to cut him off before he could say anything. “I mean, what made a turian decide to go for a human? It’s not like with asari, your people don’t seem to make a habit of getting into relationships with other species.”

“I could say the same for humans,” Vakarian pointed out. “But, ah, I’ll admit it’s a bit unusual. I wasn’t sure it would work at first, but what’s between us? It’s not about human or turian. It’s about me and Lil. We work, that’s all that’s ever mattered to us. I personally don’t care what the hell anyone else says about it as long as that one fact is true.” The look he was giving her almost seemed to dare her to say anything about it.

“So you love her?” she asked instead. 

“Isn’t that what I’ve been saying?” Vakarian’s mandibles twitched. She just raised an eyebrow at him and leaned back in her chair. “Is this another one of those human things? All of you to insist on having everything said out loud.” He fell silent after that, although he was fidgeting and twisting his claws around each other again.

“I thought this would be the easiest question I could ask you.”

Vakarian made a clicking sound that might have meant something. “It depends on what you mean by easy,” he grumbled. She quirked an eyebrow at him and he sighed. “..I do. Love her I mean.” He actually started to pace a little after he spoke. 

The words almost seemed to take a visible effort him for him get out. The weight they bore was reassuring. She didn’t say anything for a moment, waiting for him to stop pacing. When he didn’t show any sign of that she shook her head. 

“I can’t pretend this isn’t a surprise,” she glanced over at Lil again. “But I suppose I shouldn’t really be that shocked she decided to go with an alien.” Vakarian stopped pacing and sort of cocked his head at her. “My daughter has never liked taking the easy route in..anything.” 

“So she’s always been insane?” Vakarian flicked his mandible into a turian grin. “And here I was worrying that the whole saving the galaxy thing got to her head. Good to know.” 

“Oh, I think the hero thing did make it worse,” Hannah couldn’t help but feel a little pride at that. Her daughter, a hero. Even know she couldn’t help it. “But she was always pulling stunts when she was growing up.”

“...Any ones worth hearing about?” Vakarian asked casually, finally taking a seat again. Thank god. Watching him fidget like that had been making her exhausted. 

“Maybe,” she said slowly, something occurring to her. Maybe this was a chance to get an answer she had been asking half the galaxy for, “but one thing first.” She leaned forward slightly. “How long have you known my daughter exactly? I don’t mean how long were you together, you’ve told me that already, but how long you’ve been friends.” 

“Uh, since the first Normandy I guess?” he flared his mandibles slightly. “What’s this about?”

“Trying to figure out if you were close enough that you know what she was doing for two years,” she said softly meeting his questioning gaze. He jerked straightening up and mandibles open wide. 

“What?” 

She leaned her elbows on the edge of her daughter’s bed. “I’m not a fool, Vakarian. Someone, somewhere, decided that the best way to get to Cerberus was to have Lil fake her death. A sham so well done that it fooled even her own mother. I assume it had something to do with the Spectres since the Alliance was as shocked about her return as I was, and anyone I ask can’t give me an answer about what she was actually doing.” 

“She hadn’t told you about any of that?” Vakarian sounded shocked. “I..that’s something you should ask her. I’m not even sure why you’re asking me. It’s not my place to..”

“I tried to ask her about it, during the bit of time the Alliance gave me with her after she turned herself in. She didn’t just try to dodge around the question, she outright ignored it. The only time I have seen her do that is when there’s something she’s afraid of me finding out. She would have just told me if it was a classified operation that she couldn’t speak about.” Hannah kept her voice even, eyes never leaving the turian. “I saw the files on most of her crew, you know. It was just for my own curiosity, but I couldn’t help noticing that there’s a two-year gap in your records. One that seems to match up rather closely with the time my daughter was gone. I find it hard to believe that was a coincidence.” 

Vakarian glanced at her, shifting in his seat. She hoped he wasn’t going to start pacing again. “That...hmmm,” he was twisting his talons around each other again and she was amazed he hadn’t pulled anything yet. “It wasn’t exactly. A coincidence, I mean. I left because of that, but it wasn’t about a mission or anything. I wasn’t with her. Spirits, I wish things had been that way.” The last part was said in more of a whisper than anything else. 

“But you do know something about it.” 

“I...” Vakarian sighed and finally looked at her. “I do, but you should be asking Lil about it, not me. Get her to tell you about it. I don’t feel right explaining something that should be her story.” 

“No, I don’t think....” she swallowed a little, remembering hte last time she had meet her daughter. It had been during Lil’s incarceration, and the Alliance brass hadn’t wanted her to see her own daughter. Apparently they had decided that she would somehow find a way for Lil to escape. Idiots. She knew it was keeping her daughter safe from the batarians. She wasn’t that much of a fool.   
That didn’t stop her from pushing her request through. She was a good soldier, and followed orders...most of the time. They had forgotten what she was capable of when she wanted something. When Lieutenant Vega had first let her into her daughter’s gilded cell-room, Lil had been standing by a window. The first whisper of “Mom?” as she turned around had nearly made her break down. It had been the first time she’d heard her daughters voice in over two years.   
It was after that things had gotten strange. They had talked, but it had been...strained. Lil had avoided half her questions and kept acting like she wanted to get away. 

“Admiral?” The word snapped her back to reality. Vakarian has his head tilted as he looked at her. “Are you..?”

“I’m fine,” she said shortly. She closed her eyes for a moment, stealing herself. “I don’t think she’s ever going to tell me. Whatever happened to her seems to have made her almost...afraid of me. I know her. I’m not sure why she was acting like I was going to take her head off, but it has to be something to do with that Cerberus mission of hers.” Garrus had his mandibles clenched tightly to his face and kept looking away from her. “I mourned her for two years. I think I deserve to know that much at least.” 

The turian hesitated for a long moment then sighed and clasped his hands together. “You weren’t the only one morning her,” he said quietly, the flanging of his voice growing much more distinct for a few seconds. “She..” he paused as if searching for a word, “she was dead. It wasn’t a ruse or a mission. She was gone.” his voice had grown heavier now. “Cerberus brought her back. Don’t ask me how, I don’t know and I really don’t care. They wanted her to take on the Collectors, and that’s why she was with them.” 

She stared at him in disbelief. At first she wasn’t sure she had heard right, but then he just looked away, and reached over to cover Lil’s hand again. She nearly shouted at him to no touch her. “If you didn’t want to answer me, you couldn’t have just said so. Don’t try to confuse me with stupid, impossible _stories_.” The last word was all but hissed out. How _dare_ he think she would buy something like that?

“It’s not a story,” he looked over at her, “it’s the truth. If you don’t believe me, ask Miranda. You ever wonder why someone like her was called in? She was the one that brought her back the first time. She won’t be happy about it, but she’ll tell you the truth. Probably.”   
Lawson. She remembered some of the questions that the woman had managed to deflect or dodge around. Still, what he was suggesting…how could she believe that? She had never even heard about something like that being in the realm of reality. 

“That’s impossible,” she whispered. “How could anyone even...” she trailed off, not sure what to say to the rest of it. Resurrecting the dead sounded like something from myth and legend, not something that belonged in the technology of the present. 

“Like I said, I try not to think too hard about the how,” Vakarian looked up at her. “It doesn’t really matter either way, does it? I mean, she’s back, she’s here with us. I try to focus on that. I still don’t like Cerberus, but I have to give them credit for giving her back to m...to us.” He nearly stammered over the last bit. She barely noticed, instead just turning to study Lil for what felt like the first time. 

“That’s what she didn’t want me to know?” 

“I guess, yeah. ‘Hi mom, I died but I got better!’ would probably be awkward to bring up,” he glanced over at her. 

“Are we sure it’s really her? They didn’t just..clone her or something?” she reached out gently, to brush a few strands of hair from her face. She wasn’t sure which possibility frightened her more.

“Oh, it’s her,” Vakarian said without hesitation, “I know it. Cerberus, and the Illusive Man, made a big deal about how they didn’t want a knock off, they wanted the original alive and breathing.” He flared his mandibles at her in a grin. “Besides, I could tell. Not even a clone could have her particular brand of insanity.” 

“So they did bring her back,” she leaned back in her chair, studying her daughter for any signs of what she had been through. There were faint scars on her face, but she had thought it was from some old battle, not signs of a resurrection. “That’s a lot to digest,” she managed to get out. She wasn’t sure she beloved it, or if she even wanted to. How did you deal with that sort of information?

“That I understand,” Vakarian said softly. “I would probably have been more weirded out about it myself if it hadn’t been for little things like Collectors breathing down our necks and her pulling my ass out of the fire. I was too busy being glad to wonder about the _how_.” 

“Even if I knew the how, I probably wouldn’t get the science anyway,” she said slowly, after a moment. “Just give me time to think about it and I’ll probably end up not caring either.” That wasn’t quiet right, she could tell that even know. Trying to think about the whole truth of what had happened to her daughter, that she had died and been brought back to them, was something so big she didn’t think she could ever fully understand it. Better to just do what Vakarian had done and be grateful that she was back with them. Or, well, would be once she woke up. 

Vakarian flicked another of those turian grins at her before turning back to her daughter. It hadn’t escaped her how gentle he was whenever he touched her or that his concern seemed genuine. When the Alliance had questioned her about Lil’s involvement with Cerberus she had once said that she trusted her daughter’s judgment. Maybe she should stop doing little more than lip-service to the words. 

“I...” she stoped, then forced herself to continue. This was more important than her own damn pride. Vakarian looked at her curiously. “I don’t deal well with being sidelined because of an injury. I hate being treated like I’m going to break. It leaves me in a bad mood. That’s...not really an excuse just a personal demon of mine. One I should know better than to let out.” There was a humm from Vakarian. Confusion? She really couldn’t tell. “I didn’t really want this to end in a fight. You’re...not that bad. I can see why people seem to support you.” 

That brought out a pleased hum. “I wouldn’t really want us to fight either,” the turian said. “Lil deserves better than that.” 

“She does,” Hannah agreeded and smile softly. “Besides, I learned a long time ago that it’s not a good idea to get between her and something she really wants.” 

That got a bark of laughter from Vakarian. “Yeah, sounds like her.” He hesitated and cleared his throat. “And uh..that kind of means a lot to me too.” She allowed a small smile. 

“You do realize that no matter what chance I gave you, if you make her cry then I make you cry?” 

He outright laughed at that. “Heh, turians really can’t cry you know. But I get the sentiment, and believe me, I don’t intend to do anything that will do that too her.” 

“I do believe that,” she said outloud. She still wasn’t entirely sure about this situation, but she usually trusted her daughter’s judgment. She would give the turian a chance, for now.

Besides, she was starting to see what Lil must have in Garrus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY, FINALLY DONE WITH THIS. Sorry this took so long people. Parts of the chapter were just fighting with me. There's just so much dialog in this chapter and I was frantic about getting it exactly right. Trying to keep Garrus in character during emotional scenes is hard for me, and I wanted to make sure it came out perfect. I figured he might want to get along with Hannah but he would be more than willing to fight for Shepard if challenged. 
> 
> I almost split this in to two chapters when I was writing it. I reached the part where she goes into the room, paused, and wondered if I should just post that and leave the talk for it's own separate chapter. But then I wasn't sure the talk alone would be long enough for a chapter on it's own.  
> :| I am very bad at estimating word counts. 
> 
> Also I kinda ship Hannah/Victus so I had to rework their dialog at some points because it sounded too...flirty for what I wanted here. >>
> 
> ~~Next chapter has a 100% chance of more Shepard~~


	4. Intercept 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Commander Shepard wakes up and looks for answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter, and sorry it took so long. Emotional reunions are hard to write. Also, thanks to my beta Oinkythepiggy for help with this.

Everything was murky, fuzzy. A single thought took a massive effort to form. She felt heavy too, like she was made of stone. Maybe moving wasn’t a good idea.  
Somewhere, somehow, Shepard knew this should be a bad sign. She should be worrying. She just couldn’t remember why. There were other things she was supposed to be remembering. Important things. Very, very important things. It was just hard to recall why they were so very important. 

Besides, it was dark. That wasn’t good either. 

Eventually some part of her remembered opening her eyes might help with that dark thing. After some thought, she decided it was worth a try. It proved to be harder than she remembered it being. It felt like her eyelids were made of lead, and didn’t want to move very much. Still, for some reason she knew this was important. Slowly, bit by bit, she forced her lids to raise. 

She winced at the first crack of light that leaked. She hadn’t remembered anything being that bright. After a few seconds, however, her sight adjusted to the outside world and she forced her eyes open the rest of the way. 

The first thing she saw was a ceiling. A rather cracked and worn ceiling, but still a ceiling. Somehow that seemed off. She hadn’t been somewhere with a ceiling, had she? She frowned, something important nudging at the edge of her mind. 

She remembered space. No, not space exactly…a spaceship. _Crucible._

Yeah, that was it, the Crucible. Or had it been the Citadel? Somewhere. Big windows. Battles going on outside. Then…then…she frowned harder when she realized she couldn’t remember much after that. Something about an AI and frustration and lots of red. It slipped away when she thought too much about it. 

But okay, she had been somewhere else. That much was obvious. Where was she now, then? She turned her head slightly to try and get her bearings. This was a small, mostly bare, room. Nothing much beside the bed, and a couple of chairs. There were a few machines around the bed though. The sort of things she would expect to find in a hospital. Was she in a hospital? There was that sort of disinfectant smell hospitals had about them. She knew she’d been hurt. She still did hurt, although it felt distant. Painkillers, some part of her mind said. It would make sense. Even before she had stepped into the beam she had been…

_The beam. Citadel. The Illusive Man. Anderson. **Reapers**. _ The thought trigger a flood of memories and reality crashed back into her head. She was _alive_ somehow, and she had no right to be. She still wasn’t sure what had happened, though, and the end of the battle was muddled. There was a point where her memories just refused to form. Bits and pieces of events that didn’t make sense formed, then melted away before she could figure out what the whole picture was. She just knew that she hadn’t been…wherever this was. Something must have happened. Something _big_ She had to figure out what that was. They might still need her. 

Immediately she tried to jerk upright, but it was like someone had taken out all her bones and replaced them with lead. After some struggle she managed to get enough energy to raise her arm. One of the machines around her started to beep angrily at her in protest. Shepard glared at it, wondered why if all machines were designed to annoy her, then turned her attention back to getting out of bed. She had no idea what had happened after…whatever she had done in the Citadel. The Crucible must have done _something_ if she was here. Whether it had actually helped or not was up in the air right now. She had to find someone, get some answers for all of this. 

The door to the room flew open almost as if in answer to her vague thoughts. On the other side was one of the last people she had expected to see. 

“Miranda?” Shepard croaked. Her voice sounded a lot rustier than she remembered it being. It was hard to force the words out.

Still, that little sound was enough to get the attention of the other woman. “Shepard?” Miranda said, her voice softer than usual and her eyes wide. Then she moved, faster than Shepard remembered her being, and she was by the bedside. “You remember my name?” she said as she checked the display on one of the machines. 

Shepard stared at her in confusion, and wondered if she had hit her head harder than she had thought. Why was Miranda asking that? “Uh, yeah. Kind of hard to forget it.” her throat still felt dry, and scratchy. Like she hadn’t spoken in a while. 

“That’s good,” Miranda visibly relaxed. “Do you remember your name?” 

“Yes,” Now Shepard was fairly certain she wasn’t the one who had been hit on the head. And this really wasn’t telling her _where_ she was. At least it felt like it was getting easier to talk. “Yes, Miranda, I know my own name. What I don’t know is where the hell I am and how I got here!” She attempted to sit up again, but her muscles were still doing their limp noodle impression. 

“I’ll tell you if you stop that!” Miranda placed a hand on her shoulder. “You’ve been unconscious for a little over a month Shepard. I’m _trying_ to determine if you’re still mentally sound.” The other woman shook her head as she reached down and tapped something that made the head of the bed raise up a little more. “Although with you I’m not sure ‘mentally sound’ was ever an accurate description.

Shepard barely noticed Miranda’s last quip. “Over a month? I’ve been _laying_ here for over a month?” She tried to force herself up again, and managed to get into something like a sitting position. Unfortunately her legs had decided they didn’t want to go along with her plan of getting out of bed. Miranda moved to make her stay still, and Shepard glared at her. “Why the hell did you let me sleep so long? What happened out there, after the Crucible? What about the war? The Reapers? Where is…”

“The Reapers are gone,” the new voice came from the door way. Both women looked up as Dr. Chakaws stepped though. She was smiling, relief radiating from her. “Shepard, it’s good to see you again.” 

“Chakwas?” Shepard stared at the doctor for a few moments of incomprehension before her brain could even try to make sense of this. “You’re here too? But the Normandy..” 

“The Normandy is fine,” Chakwas moved over to join them. “And before you can ask, yes, Garrus and Tali made it out all right despite their injuries.” 

“They are? You’re sure about that?” Shepard said slowly as her jumbled memories of what had happened during that frantic dash toward the beam. “And the Reapers are…gone?” She let herself sink back down to the bed as her mind tried to process that.

“I treated both of them myself,” the Normandy’s doctor said patiently. “and yes, the Reapers are gone. Dead would probably be more accurate, but either way, they aren’t here to bother us anymore.” She stepped closer, and Shepard finally noticed the unsteady smile on her face. “It’s _good_ to see you up again Shepard. You’ve been out so long you were even starting to worry _me_ ” She reached down and laid a hand on her shoulder. It weirded out Shepard a little to know that she was the cause of Chakwas being this openly emotional. 

“Sorry about that?” Shepard said uncertainly. “It’s good to see you too. Nice waking up to familiar faces instead of just another scientist. I‘ve kind of gotten tired of that.”

“I would have been here sooner, but I only just got the news.” Chakwas turned a glare on Miranda. 

“I sent you a message as soon as I became aware of it myself,” the former Cerbus agent shot back. “It’s not like I could control how far away you were.” She had her omintool out and was checking the readings on one of the machines, but paused, a small smile on her face. “I will have to add that Dr. Chakwas was not the only one worried. You have a great many people waiting for you.”

Shepard was sure she knew of at least one person that would fit the description. Actually, now that her thoughts were a little clearer, she was wondering where he was. She must have said his name without meaning too because Chakwas chuckled. “Garrus is over at the turian command center. When he’s not by your side, he’s been working himself to the bone to distract himself. I’m sure he’ll be here as soon as he can.” 

“Sooner, if he can manage it I imagine,” Miranda commented. “I did send him a message myself. I wouldn’t want to see his reaction if I hadn’t.” 

That was enough to bring a faint mile to Shepard’s face, and she felt a little lighter. Time to focus on more important things. “That’s nice. Really. But could someone please tell me where the _hell_ I am and how I got here?” 

Both doctors looked at it each other. “You’re in a hospital,” Chakwas said after a moment. “It’s one of the few left standing, and naturally it was considered the only place to bring the galaxy’s hero. Although they are keeping it quiet for now. Not many even know you’re here.” 

“Before you ask,” Miranda chimed in, “Dr. Tsoni and Lieutenant Vega found you at the beam site. You were…very badly wounded when they brought you. We weren’t even sure you were going to survive. Of course, they underestimated how immeasurably stubborn you are.” 

“The beam…site?” she struggled to recall where the hell that was. “How did I get there?”

“No one knows,” Chakwas said briskly. “Granted, the scientists all have numerous pet theories on the subject, but no one was willing to commit to anything until you were awake to confirm any of them.”

Shepard couldn’t imagine how anyone could think she would be able to answer any of their questions. Now when she could barely remember anything herself. Then again politicians were idiots and probably wouldn’t even believe that. Miranda was saying something about exhaustion being a natural reaction to something, but she wasn’t paying attention. It was getting harder to focus on thinking again. She was tempted to just closer her, eyes for a couple of seconds, just to rest them…at the last second she realized what was happening and forced herself awake. She had already slept enough; she was not going to waste anymore time!

Still, she could feel exhaustion dragging at her and she cast her mind out trying to find something to keep herself awake. Then, suddenly she realized if she had been found where the beam had picked her up from, maybe there was a chance she hadn’t been the only one to come back.

“Anderson,” she said out loud, “if they found me, they must have found him too, right?.” 

The silence from both the other people in the room was answer enough even before Chakwas said softly, “I’m sorry Shepard. He didn’t make it.” 

Shepard had tried not to hold onto too much hope, but it still felt like a blow. There had been a part of her searching for some way he would make it out alive. “Damn it!” Something wet trickled down the side of her face. Quickly she closed her eyes, hoping no one had seen the tears. If either Miranda or Chackwas had, they didn’t mention it. 

“He died a hero, Shepard,” Miranda said. “His sacrifice is already being honored.” 

“Still, he didn’t deserve to die up there,” Shepard said, and opened her eyes to stare up at the ceiling again. It took more effort than she thought it should and she could feel the exhaustion creeping up on here again. 

“No one deserved to die out there,” Chakwas said firmly, “and I doubt he would be very pleased with you moping about after his death. He would probably insist you concentrate on recovering and getting back on your feet. You are a hero, Shepard.” 

“He probably would,” Shepard had to admit, “and I don’t feel like a hero at the moment.” 

“That’s because you need rest,” Dr. Chakwas’ voice sounded far away. Shepard snorted slightly, but allowed her eyes to drift close. She was only going to rest for a second. That was it, all she was going to allow herself. She swore it. 

Her intent, however, seemed to matter little to her body. She felt herself slipping back into sleep, and this time didn’t have the strength to fight it. 

Shepard wasn’t sure how much time had passed when she opened her eyes again. There were no windows, and no one had decided to leave a clock where she could see it. Not that it really mattered anyway, but it would be nice to know how much more time she had wasted. Long enough that Miranda and Chakwas had left, at least. She wasn’t alone though, not anymore. Garrus was in a chair by her bedside, one hand resting on hers. He looked tired, and hadn’t seemed to notice she was awake.

Even though Dr. Chakwas had told her he was all right, seeing him again brought on a rush of relief and other emotions. He really _was_ all right, even his head kept falling forward like he was going to doze off at any moment. That he was pushing himself that hard, just for her, was both touching and slightly exasperating. Maybe she should have felt more annoyed with him, but seeing him just felt far too good for her to sustain it. There was that sense of peace that he always brought with him, even in the middle of the war. As she watched his head nod forward again, she wondered if it was possible for turians to outright fall asleep while standing. 

“That can’t be comfortable,” she croaked out loud. Despite how bad she must have sounded the words made Garrus jerk upright all at one, all trace of drowsiness in his eyes gone. 

“Shepard?” he said, a sharp keen creeping into his subvocals as he pinned her with an intense gaze. It felt like he was studying every inch of her, and if she had more energy it would have made her shiver. She loved it when he looked at her like that. 

This time all she could do was smile. “Yeah,” she turned her hand over to grip his. “Hey.” 

He made a strangled sound, then the next thing she knew he was pressing his forehead against her, stroking the side of her face with his free hand. “You’re awake,” his voice shook “You’re _awake! Spirits_. You...you...stupid, reckless, idiotic, heroic... _human_. Do you know how much of a hassle you are? Blowing everything, including yourself, up, and then deciding to just sleep for days on end and let everyone else do all the work.” She could hear the desperation in his shaking words and felt a rush of guilt. 

“Sorry ‘bout that,” she muttered, returning the pressure against her forehead as best she could. “Wasn’t planning on blowing myself up but, just, you know, Reapers. Always have to make things more complicated, even after they’re dead.” 

“I think you have them beat out when it comes to _complicating_ things,” Garrus grumbled and slowly eased back. “Really Shepard, you don’t have to turn everything into a competition.” 

“But that’s the fun part,” she had to clear her throat before she could get the words out but tried to grin about it. She couldn’t put any energy into it though, and Garrus reached over to smooth a hand through her hair. 

“In all seriousness, you did have me worried Shepard,” he said, his voice still not totally steady. “There were so many reports coming in, all of them conflicting, and then someone told me that you’d been confirmed dead....” his voice started to keen again. Shepard squeezed his hand again. 

“Come on, you should know me better than that,” she said lightly. “Even I’m capable of following orders when I want too. Had some pretty convincing ones telling me to come back.” His words still echoed crystal clear in her mind. She remembered that much, even though the rest of her memories of what exactly had happened after she had activated the Crucible were refusing to cooperate with her.

Garrus flared his mandibles slightly. “I suppose I am pretty convincing. But, I also do know you Shepard. That’s what had me worried. If I had lost you..” his voice trailed off into nothing. 

“Hey, I’m here,” she said and tried to sit up slightly and reach out for him. Her body, however, decided to inform her that she was still weak and that was a Bad Idea. Weakness dragged her back down, and the pain of injuries that were little more than half-healed made her hiss. 

Garrus was there immediately, peering at her in horror. “Don’t do that! Can’t you stay still for more than two seconds?” 

“Not really,” Shepard grunted as she tried to get herself back into a comfortable position. “Although it looks like I’m not gong to have much of a choice right now. Ow, dammit.” 

Garrus actually chuckled, a little shakily. “I know you like being difficult, but now might be a good idea to listen to the nice doctors.” He helped her get settled, but didn’t pull back all the way. He stayed close, as if he half expected her to try this again. She really couldn’t bring herself to tell him to move away.

“I suppose I can,” she admitted begrudgingly. “But only until I’m a bit better. I’m not staying here a moment longer than I have to. Soon as I can stand I’m heading straight back towards the Normandy. I can recover better there than in a hospital.” Garrus hadn’t said anything. He was just staring at her and gripping her hand tightly.   
“What?” 

“I missed you Shepard,” he said quietly, not taking his eyes off her. “I just...it was lonely out there with out you.” There was so much emotion in those words, and in his eyes, that it was hard to meet them. Shepard was still having trouble wrapping her head around how long she had been out, but suddenly she was wondering what it must have been like for someone on the outside. The waiting..She wasn’t sure she would have been able to deal with something like that. If this had happened to Garrus, if she hadn’t even known if he would wake up…. that was something she didn’t want to think about. 

She tried to swallow around the lump in her throat. Even though her arms still felt like lead she still managed to raise a hand far up enough to stroke his unscarred mandible. “Well I’m back,” she told him softly. “So quit worrying about it, okay?” 

That got a snort of him as he leaned into her touch. “Hard not to worry when I have a girlfriend who seems to make a habit out of forgetting about little things like personal safety.” 

“Like you’re any bett..” a coughing fit interrupted her. Garrus gave a shocked growl. 

“What’s wrong? Should I call for someone? I can get..” 

“It’s fine,” she managed to get out. “My throat’s just really dry. Is there water or something around here?” 

“Ah yeah, Miranda left it, hold on...” Garrus stood, and disappeared passed the head of her bed. There were sounds of him moving something around, then he reappeared with a small paper cup in his hand. “Here, let me.” He slid an arm under her shoulders and lifted her a bit, but when he tried to raise the cups to her lips, Shepard pulled away. 

“I can drink for myself,” she said dryly. She couldn’t remember a time when she was conscious and she couldn’t at least eat or drink by herself. It took effort, sure, but she was not helpless child. She could do this. She was _going_ to do this. 

“Are you sure?” Garrus flared his mandibles in distress. “You really don’t look good Shepard.” 

“I’m sure,” she said as she inched her hands slowly up. She managed to get a hold of the cup, which was bigger than she thought it was, and brought it up to her mouth. Garrus kept her propped up and watched anxiously as she sipped carefully. She wasn’t shaking exactly but it was work to keep her hands steady, and she was not going to embarrass herself by splashing it all over after making such an effort to argue about it. 

Even those few sips made her feel much better. Suddenly things didn’t seem as hard “See? Told you,” she said as Garrus took the cup away. He snorted and she used him turning away for a second to hide how quickly she dropped her hands back onto her lap. Yeah, she felt better but apparently that wasn’t enough. _Still have a ways to go yet,_ she thought as she glared at her hands. She just hoped that the weakness was only temporary. The mere thought of it being more permanent, of never being able to be a soldier again, made her shake slightly. The Alliance had been her whole life since she had joined it. What would she do if she had to give that up? 

She had almost forgotten Garrus was it he room with her until a three-fingered hand wound around one of her own. Shepard jerked her head up automatically and met a pair of worried blue eyes. 

“You know,” the turian said slowly. “I kept talking to Dr. Chakwas when she showed up. You know, about how you were doing, when you were going to wake up...stuff a worried boyfriend usually asks doctors about. One thing she mentioned to me was that you were healing faster than any decent human being had a right to be.” 

“So I’m not decent now?” she chuckled and squeezed his hand gently. 

He flared a turian grin at her. “You really want me to answer that, Shepard?” He shook his head, “The point is, whatever enhancements Cerberus stuck in you seemed to be doing a pretty good job of making sure your body was fine. Chakwas just seemed a tiiiny bit concerned that you might be a bit, hmmm, drained for a while. Humans aren’t krogan after all, so this time you aren’t going to be able to dance away without some sort of consequences.” 

“Wait,” Shepard said slowly as she started to process what he had just told her. This was what Miranda had been babbly about earlier, wasn’t it? “All.. _this_ is just a _side effect?”_ A shuddering sense of relief swept through her. She tried to keep it out her voice. Covering it with annoyance was good. “So how long am I going to be stuck with it?” 

“You know, most people like to take a _break_ after they get back from saving the galaxy. I think you of all people have earned that,” Garrus drawled. “But if you’re really that intent on jumping straight back into the fray, then you’re going to have to ask Dr. Chakwas. Or Miranda. They can tell you when you can expect to be back on your feet. Just try not to kill anyone when they don’t clear you immediately.” 

Even though Garrus was keeping his tone light, there was worry and sympathy in his eyes. Her cheeks flushed. She didn’t need sympathy, and she hadn’t meant to worry him. How had he even known what to say anyway? He was always a little too good at figuring out what she was feeling, damn turian. Then again, he had been a cop, and he knew her. Knew her very well, when it came down to it. Honestly, it kind of felt good, not having to explain why the thought of being so helpless made her shake. He probably understood the feeling.

She felt the annoyance she had at him slipping away. It should have been scary, being with someone that knew her that well. Earlier in her life she certainly would have tempted to run away from it. Now, after everything she had been through with him, it just felt comforting knowing that she didn’t have to stumble through words about a fear like that. He wouldn’t make fun of her about it either. Just accept it as part of her.

“I’ll keep my temper in check,” she said and smiled at him. “Or at least I’ll try. Even I know it’s bad manners to growl at the people who put you back together.” 

“As if you humans _could_ growl, even if you wanted to,” Garrus leaned forward to brush a lock of hair out of her face. “Granted, you _almost_ manage it but nothing any self respecting turian would call a _growl_.” 

For a few moments just enjoyed having him this close. This close though, she couldn’t help noticing changes that she hadn’t before, when she had been a bit distracted. There were new pot-marks and pitting on the unscarred side of his face, and even the skin of his neck had a few still healing cuts. 

“I guess you’ve had some experience with growling at doctors,” she said quietly. “Fairly recently, I guess.” He pulled away and looked at her in confusion. “You could barely walk the last time I saw you, Garrus. It’s nice to see you on your feet.” 

His mandibles dropped in confusion and he stared at her for a few seconds. “You have no idea how many things I want to say to that. My girlfriend runs straight into an alien deathbeam and she’s worried about _me._ I’m beginning to think you really did knock something lose in your head.”

“Humor me?” She asked. “You can’t really blame me for being a little worried after...everything else.” Her throat closed and she tried very, very hard not to think about what happened up there in the Citadel. Anderson was something she wasn’t sure she was ready to deal with. She wasn’t sure she would ever be. Something must have show in her eyes because Garrus moved forward and pressed his forehead against hers. 

“Of course, Shepard,” he rumbled soothingly before pulling away just a little. “But look, I’m fine. You really think Chakwas would let me be up and walking around if I wasn’t?”

He wasn’t lying. She could read him enough to know that, and it made her relax some. “I think you could find some way around her orders if you wanted to. I’m pretty sure I remember you doing it before.” 

“Yeah, but,” he flared his mandibles in distress, “Shepard.. _Lil_ , I..” 

“I know,” she said quickly. “I believe you this time, really.”

“Good,” he rumbled. “Because I actually feel a lot better than I did this morning. Have a weight off my mind now.” 

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Shepard couldn’t help nodding towards the cut on his neck. “Just noticed you had a few more scars.” 

“So do you,” he observed, running his thumb over a spot on her hand. Considering how bad she remembered the wounds she _remembered_ were, she could imagine that. There were probably a dozen other injuries that she had forgotten about that had made things worse. 

“Probably,” she agreed. “Guess we’ll just have to show them off to each other later.” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. That actually seemed to hurt a little and she resolved not to do it again. At least it startled a laugh out of her boyfriend. 

“Are you really that insatiable,?” he said as he straightened all the way. “No wait, I’m not sure I want you answer that. I do think I’ll get frowned at a little for taking advantage of you before you were back to your old self.” 

That got a laugh out of her. It jolted something in her chest that told her how sore she really was underneath the painkillers, but it felt good to laugh again. “I think we could debate over who was taking advantage of who in that situation,” she squeezed his hand, “but I’ll be good for once. Tell me what happened with Normandy instead. Chakwas said it was fine, but more detailed reports are always appreciated.” 

“She got a bit banged up, but nothing that can’t be fixed,” Garrus flared his mandibles in a grin. “And before you ask, yeah, everyone is fine. Just kindly remember to send us a warning the next time you decide to fire a doomsday weapon.”

“So that’s what you would call the Crucible? A doomsday weapon?” Shepard felt a tiny thrill of alarm at that. She didn’t actually remember what the crucible had _done_ only that something had happened. She had no idea how destructive it was. If Garrus was calling it a doomsday weapon..

“I think that Reapers would have called it one,” he was grinning. “You set it off, boom, flash of light, and then suddenly all of them stopped moving. Whatever you did got the ground forces too.” 

“Good,” she said letting herself relax. She had fallen asleep before Chakwas could giver her any details, and it was nice hear it. “But that’s it? Just a flash of light?” 

“Well, light, and a lot of energy. Didn’t do much though, knocked a few ships, caused problems with some of their equipment, and did little things like short out the mass relays. That’s all.” 

“What?” she tried to jerk upright before Garrus gave a worried keen and stood. She kept her eyes on him as she settled her shaky body back down. “I shorted out the mass relays?” They would be cut off from the rest of the galaxy without the mass relays. Everyone would be stranded, and if they couldn’t get them operational again then there were some who might never see their homes again. 

“Calm down,” Garrus said firmly. “ _You_ didn’t do anything. It was the Crucible, and you know that most of the people here right now would willingly have traded the relays for the death of the reapers.” 

“Still a big sacrifice to make,” she muttered, subsidiing a little. 

Garrus snorted. “It’s not like they were destroyed,” he pointed out, “teams have been out working on them since they moment they could get out there. There’s no physical damage, just overtaxed. The quarians and the geth both say they’ll be able to get them working again fairly soon.” 

“The qurians and the...geth?” Somehow that made her feel better. There was something mixed in with the muddled memories of the crucible that said she should be relived and happier about this. 

“Yep,” Garrus was saying. “Good job you made peace between them. Otherwise we would be waiting a hell of a lot longer. It’s pretty impressive what they can do together after someone knocked sense into them.” 

“You’re sure about that?” She couldn’t keep the anxiousness out of her voice and Garrus sighed. 

“Yes, Shepard, I am sure. As sure as I can be without going out there myself, which, you know, is something I really have no desire to do.” 

“I don’t really want you to leave either,” she said softly. “And okay, I believe you,” She tried to smile and change the subject, “so I take it the Normandy was one of the ships that got tossed around a little?” 

“Umm...not exactly.” 

The flanging on his voice had gotten wider and he looked away. Her eyes narrowed. “Garrus?” 

“We did get knocked about a bit, yeah, but EDI going off line was kind of a bigger problem.” 

“What!?” Shepard yelped, but this time before she could try to move Garrus had his hands on her shoulders. 

“Would you stop that?” his mandible were splayed in distress again. “You hurt yourself again and Chackwas is going to get mad at _me_. Then ban me from being here. Not something either of us wants.” 

“You told me EDI went offline and I’m supposed to be _calm_ about this?” 

“Went off line for a _little_ bit,” he said quickly. “We got her running again, so don’t worry about it. No one has noticed anything different about her, even Joker, and EDI says there aren’t any system anomalies.” Shepard frowned at him still not convinced, and Garrus shook his head slightly. “I checked myself, Shepard. The only thing we can’t account for is why that robot body of hers won’t work. No matter what we do we can’t get into it, but that’s not _critical_ or anything at the moment.”   
“I can call up Joker if you want. I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to tell you _all_ about it,” Garrus added. He didn’t really look happy about the prospect and Shepard sighed. 

“No, no, that’s all right. I’ll believe you,” she sighed, “I can guess that Joker is really not happy about the situation. I don’t need him talking my ear off about it right now.” 

“‘Not happy’ really doesn’t cover it,” Garrus agreed. “Although at the moment I think he’s worried that EDI might actually take up the geth’s offer to use one of their platforms.” 

“Please tell me I didn’t hear you correctly. The geth wanted EDI to join them?” she just stared wide-eyed at Garrus, who chuckled at her expression. 

“Not join them exactly. They just thought they would be neighborly and lend her a ‘mobile platform’ until hers was operational again.” 

Shepard couldn’t help laughing at the mental image that conjured up. It still hurt, but she couldn’t help herself “Please tell me someone has a picture of Joker’s face when that happened. I can just _picture_ his expression.” 

“Oh, I think Tali might,” Garrus chuckled. “As her the next time you see her. I’m sure she’ll be _more_ than happy to hook you up.” 

“Think she’ll come by?” The prospect of seeing Tali again made her feel a little happier. Tali, Liara, Joker...it would be good to see all of them with her own eyes. Hearing about how they were doing was a pale substitute to that.

“I think it’ll be harder to keep her away,” Garrus said. 

They talked a bit more after that, about the status of the Normandy, how the crew was holding up, but gradually it became more about her listening and Garrus speaking. She had always loved his voice. Aside from downright sexy, it was soothing to listen to sometimes. She didn’t even mind listen to him jabber about things in the Thanix she only half-understood because of it. It was relaxing, comforting...

She didn’t realize just _how_ relaxing it was to hear him again until his voice changed to something sharper. “Shepard?” 

She jerked out of the half doze she was in. “Mmm?” she said tiredly as she opened her eyes and blinked at him. 

He was flaring his mandibles at her anxiously as he leaned over. “You all right?” 

“Mmm, fine,” she said putting in a mighty effort to keep her eyes open. “Just give me a minute.” 

Garrus relaxed slightly and ran a hand through her hair. “Don’t push yourself, Shepard,” he said softly. “Rest if you want to.” 

Somehow she felt she should be arguing against that, but she just didn’t have the energy too. “...Fine,” she muttered. “But could you..” she didn’t finish the sentence since it would sound so childish to voice it, but it was Garrus and he seemed to understand. 

“I’ll be here,” he said as he took her hand again. “Always.” 

“Thank you,” she said outloud before she closed her eyes and let herself relax into sleep once more. 

O0o0o0o0o

Garrus sat watching the rise and fall of her chest. Sleeping again, but at least this time it was just regular deep sleep. She was back. She would wake up, and they could talk again. No more worrying. She was here. 

He let out a shuddering breath, trying to keep it together. He had been trying to be relaxed while she was awake and not show how much he had been worried over her. She had enough to adjust to without throwing his state of mind into the mix. The moment he had got a message from Chakwas saying that she was awake and talking he had set out toward the hospital. Even after coming _this_ close to hijacking a transport to get here as fast as possible, he still hadn’t arrived before Shepard had fallen asleep again. He hasn’t left since then. He had to see for himself that she was all right, that she was still herself. 

That had been everyone’s unspoken worry. The doctors had done they best they could, but even they didn’t know what was going to happen when she woke up. She had taken so much damage that there was always the possibility that whoever came out of the coma wouldn’t be the Shepard they had known. There was so much that could have gone wrong, and he had tried his best not to think about any of it. Joker had brought up old Earth dramas where a character had woken up with amnesia as a joke, but Garrus had to admit that the mere thought had shaken him. Shepard forgetting everything? Even him? How would you deal with that?

Thankfully he hadn’t been the only one affected by that thought and Joker had very quickly pretended the conversation had never happened.

At lest they wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore. “It’s over now,” he hadn’t meant to say the words out loud. The sound of the them in the small room made him jump and reflexively slammed his mouth shut, mandibles clinging tight to his face. He might be happy that Shepard was with him again, but he was not going to jeopardize her recovery by waking her up when she should be resting. 

The door opened suddenly and be held back a warning snarl at the sound, just as Tali stepped inside. 

“Garrus,” she said, not sounding at all surprised at finding them there. “How is she?” her gaze switched to Shepard. Her mask blocked her face but he didn’t need to see it to read the lines of her body and the anxious tone in her voice. 

“You just missed her,” he said, forcing himself to relax and keep her voice low. “She was awake for a while, but she’s still weak. Apparently Chakwas was right; those little bits of machinery in her are helpful, but draining.” 

Tali grumbled something that sounded like a quarian curse but it was too indistinct for his translator to catch.   
“But you talked with her? She’s really all right?” Tali had her hands clenching together.

“She’s fine,” he said gently, “at least mentally. I think her asking about the Normandy and the crew was a good sign.” 

“Thank god,” Tali sagged back against the wall. “Chakwas said that she was okay, but when she mentioned that Shepard didn’t really remember somethings that had happened and I got so _worried_. I tried to get out here as soon as I could but I kept running into problems and delays..”

“Look, Tali, don’t worry about it,” he said quickly. “Any memory loss she has seems to be centered around what happened right before the Crucible fired, and frankly, that might be for the best.” 

“That’s something I’ll agree on. I would rather guess about what happened with the Reapers than force _anyone_ , most of all Shepard, to relive something like that.” 

“Then you’ll have to help me keep the Alliance off her,” he felt his subvocals shift down into a threatening growl as he spoke and it took effort to drag it back. He wasn’t sure if that would wake Shepard or not. “They’ll want answers, but I’m not letting them put that ahead of Shepard’s health.”  
He knew he was being at least a little stupid about this. Maybe even very stupid about it. It was just that over the past few years he had seen what the Alliance, what even the Council had put her thought but was helpless over it. Now the whole galaxy owed her, and he was finally in a position where he could do something to make things easier for her, even if it was just chasing away politicians and paparazzi until she could do it herself.

“You know I’ll help however I can,” Tali said gently, then paused for a second. “How are you holding up, Garrus?” There was an anxious note in her voice, and it was only when he heard it that he realized his hands were shaking slightly. 

He took a deep breath, evoking the same discipline he did to steady himself right before a shot. “I’m fine,” he said as best he could. “Really. Today’s just been a little emotional is all.” He hadn’t realized how just hearing her voice would get to him. Talking to her, knowing she was all right...he hadn’t even said half the things he wanted to her. He didn’t want to drag out something that emotional when she looked as weak as she did. Besides, his words had been stolen by just being able to talk with her, joke with her as if nothing had happened.   
“I got to see her again, Tali,” he admitted quietly. 

Tali closed the few steps between them. “I know,” she said as she laid a hand on his shoulder. “She’s probably glad to be back too.”

“Yeah,” was the only thing he could think to say to that. 

“You’ll see her again soon,” Tali said firmly, “ and when she’s awake again you have to call me. I will be most unhappy if you don’t, understand?” 

He relaxed slightly. “An unhappy quarian. Wouldn’t want that. Don’t worry, I’ll call you.” 

He could promise that. Tali was right. Shepard would be with them again. He just hoped it would be soon.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Shepard heard Garrus’ voice. It was far off, but she'd know those familiar dual-tones anywhere. He was annoyed, even without seeing him she could heard that much although she couldn’t tell who he was annoyed with. Sucks to be them, she thought cheerfully as silence fell.

Curiosity overcame her and she slowly opened her eyes. Same hospital room, but curiously she couldn’t see the turian anywhere close by. 

“Lillie?” That wasn’t Garrus. It was a voice that was even more familiar to her than his. 

She felt something in her chest lurch. “Mom?” she whispered in disbelief as she finally focused on the woman sitting in a chair on her right side.

The older woman seemed to sag in relief herself and smiled. “Welcome back to the world, sweetheart. You’ve been sleeping a long time.”

Lil just stared at her mother wide-eyed. “What are you doing here, Mom?”

“What, I’m _not_ supposed to come visit my daughter when I find out she’s been through hell and back?” her mother crossed her arms and leaned back. At least she looked amused. 

“I’m not saying that,” she said quickly trying to force herself to keep still and not betray how hard her heart was beating. “I just thought you would be busy. Hackett told me you got promoted to Rear Admiral. I didn’t think they would let you just walk away with everything so messed up.”

“I have been working to get things running again,” her mother said and slowly uncrossed her arms. “That doesn’t mean I’m above pulling rank and heading over to see my injured daughter. Not a lot of people seemed to really object to it either.” She chuckled. “Hackett grumbled somewhat but he didn’t try to stop me either. I think he knows better than to try.” 

Lil wasn’t at all surprised by that. Anyone who knew her mother knew about that stubborn streak that ran a mile wide.. “I wonder why,” she said dryly as she tried to stop herself from fidgeting. Moving still hurt and used energy she really didn’t have. Silence fell between them and she didn’t know what to say to fill it. Her mother seemed confused, and Lil felt bad about this. It wasn’t as if anything that had happened was either of their fault, and it would make things so much easier if she could just _explain_. Except, she had no idea how you brought up the fact that you had been _dead_ to your mother. 

”Lillie?” her mother’s voice split the silence. She leaned forward, reaching out toward her. “Are you okay? You spaced out for a second there.”

Lil jerked away automatically. Even though there was barely any room to move and the sudden action hurt, her intent was obvious. The hurt look on her mother’s face was worse than the physical pain. “Yeah, sorry,” she said, trying to ignore it. “I was just thinking. Were you..talking with someone else before I woke up? I thought I heard a different voice.” Try to keep it calm, try to keep it casual. Easier than facing emotions she didn’t know how to deal with. 

Her mother sighed, as if she had expected the question. “Garrus was here until a couple minutes ago,” she said. “He was already here when I arrived, actually. Then someone pinged him on his omnitool, he answered, and I chased him out when they started arguing. I told him I would throw him out myself if he woke you up. Apparently I should have just done it anyway.” Her mother smiled at her encouragingly and Lil tried her best to smile back.

She wasn’t sure how to feel about it. If things weren’t so tangled up, then she might have actually laughed, and wished she could have seen that. Instead she felt she was just waiting for something to crack, for her mother to notice something was off and say something about it.

“So you and Garrus have been talking?” she asked, trying to keep it casual. Distract her, maybe. Lil had to admit the thought of her mother and her boyfriend talking was almost enough to distract her personally. She had never brought up her relationships to her mother and if Garrus had let something slip...

“Yes, we have,” her mother shook her head, “talking quite a bit actually. I think it was harder for him to stay quiet.”   
Lil chuckled nervously. “Yeah, sounds like him. He’s like that.” She didn’t know what to say after that. _No_ , she thought quietly to herself, _more than that._ If she kept talking, she might say something that she would regret. There were so many things that she didn’t want her mother to know, but so many things she wanted to tell her. She couldn’t risk something more than she wanted to say slipping out. 

Her mother looked concerned, and Lil could hardly blame her. The older woman seemed to hesitate for a moment, then spoken gently. “Look, Lil...I get why you’re nervous about me speaking with him, but I’m not going to say anything about your relationship. You’ve never been one to take the easy route, so I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by you dating a turian.” 

For a few seconds, Lil thought she had been hit over the head. Although she had been slightly worried her mother could have picked up on _something_ with her and Garrus in the same room for so long she hadn’t thought it would be that accurate.   
“Well, that’s good to know. How they hell did you even found out about it anyway?” There had been rumors about who she was sleeping with; she knew that for a fact. She just didn’t think her own mother would be the sort to believe them.

It just brought on a slight smile. “Vakarian told me himself.”

“I am going to kill him,” Lil said conversationally and tried to sink back deeper into her pillows. 

“Does saying that I don’t think he meant for me to overhear that make it a bit better?” 

“A little,” Lil admitted, plucking distractedly at the sheets. She swallowed, and hoped that she wasn’t hooked up to anything reading her heart rate at the moment. “You really don’t care?”

“I was a bit shocked at first,” her mother admitted, “I wasn’t sure what to think. I fought _against_ the turians, remember.” She shifted uncomfortably. “I’ll admit, maybe I wasn’t the most reasonable with him at first. But he’s a good man Lillie, I can see that. He also cares for you, and he’s made that very obvious.” There was a pause, and her mother leaned forward. Lil drew back a little as the older woman studied her face for a moment. “But that’s what he feels. I have no idea if you even feel the same about him.” 

The last words managed to shake Lil out of the feeling of stunned disbelief that had overridden everything else. “I thought you said you weren’t going to say anything about my relationship with him?” She brought her hands up to rest on her lap. “Because really, why would you even be asking that if it were true?”

“I’m not trying to judge you, Lillie. I just want to hear things from your own mouth for once. I’ve had a hell of a lot of people talking to me about you, but I haven’t had a chance to hear your own opinion for years. You know I prefer information straight from the source. Given everything else you’ve been though, can you really blame me for trying to make sure you’re happy?”

Lil honestly wasn’t sure what she was supposed to feel about that. Yeah, it was nice knowing someone still cared. She just never liked being question, especially by the woman who had raised her. “I’m an adult. I can make my own decisions.” 

“And I’m your mother. I worry. It’s part of the job,” her mother did draw back a little. “So, are you going to answer or leave me wondering?”

For a moment Lil did contemplate not answering but then she leaned back against her pillows and decided this was one fight she didn’t want. “Whatever Garrus said, I’m echoing,” she said as she closed her eyes for a moment, ”I don’t care what it was, and I have a pretty good idea what the words were anyway. He’s been everything to me lately. No matter what’s happened, what I’ve asked him to do, he’s always been right there by my side. Imagining a life without him...that’s not something I think I could do.” She wasn’t sure those words were right, or even if they made any sense, but they were the best she could come up with.

Her mother let out a breath of air. There was a creak for the chair, and Lil opened her eyes to find the older woman leaning back, watching her. “Then I’ll keep my promise not to say anything else about it. I don’t really _understand_ the attraction but he obviously makes you happy. After everything you’ve been through I think that’s the least you deserve.”

“Thank you,” Lil couldn’t think of anything else to say beyond that and it drifted again into uncomfortable silence. She kept hoping something would happen. That Garrus would come back. That she would fall asleep. Even that the Alliance brass would come storming in demanding answers. Anything to get a distraction.

There was a sigh from the chair. “All right, Lillie, what’s really going on here?”

Some part of her mouth went dry. She could feel adrenalin surge and her heart was bounding. Usually she felt like this at the beginning of a battle. “What do you mean? I think it’s fairly obvious what’s going on here. I’m trying to recover from being nearly blown up by a reaper.”

“Not about that,” her mother said patiently. “What’s going on between the two of us? I don’t need to be a psychologist to know that something’s off, and has been since you got back.” Lil felt herself freeze, barely breathing. Hannah Shepard did not appear to notice, but kept talking. “You used to at least shoot me a note every week or so to tell me how you were doing. Then I mourn you for two years, and you don’t even have the courtesy to tell me you were back. Anderson had to tell me.”

“I said I was sorry about that,” Lil said shortly. “I was kind of busy killing Collectors.” 

“So, that meant no time for a note even?” her mother’s voice was dry, although there was worry laced underneath it. “But that’s why I went to see you when the Alliance dragged you in for trial. I wanted to see if you were all right. You acted like you would rather have been anywhere but there with me.” 

There was nothing Lil could think to say to that. She just looked down at her hands that were gripping sheets to keep from trembling. That...she remembered that. She hadn’t been thinking about her mother until the older woman had walked into the apartment she was on lock down in. Then suddenly terror had gripped her. Few things scared her, but right now her mother was one of the things that could. 

“Lil,” her mother was saying gently. “I thought you freaked out because you didn’t want me to know you were sleeping with a turian, but you’re still acting like I’m going to take your head off. What’s going on?” 

Lil felt her mouth go dry again. She didn’t want to drive her mother away. She just didn’t want to talk to her either. Honestly, she wasn’t sure what she wanted. Her stomach was twisting and she was just so close to saying she was exhausted and wanted to be left alone. “Nothing. I’m fine, Mom. Just tired.”

That got a snort and the older woman crossed her arms. “Please Lilliana,” her mother said in a warning voice she hadn’t heard since she was a teenager. “I’m a bit insulted. Have you ever been able to successfully lie to me?” Then she hesitated. “Look if it’s something I did, if something happened...just tell me. I’ll listen. I promise.” 

There so many memories that called up. She swallowed around a lump in her thought. “It’s nothing to do with you,” she said quietly. “Not really. It’s just...one of those things that’s really complicated. I’m not sure how to explain it.” 

“I don’t want to push you when you’re like this,” her mother sighed. “We can wait if you want. I’m just worried about you Lillie. I know how much pressure you were under. Just...you know I trust you, right? Whatever happened with Cerberus, or out there with the Reapers, I know you did the right thing.” 

Even without those words, Lil would have known that. Even the note she had gotten while chasing Collectors had said as much. Hannah Shepard had never doubted what her daughter was doing. That’s why doubting _her_ now made Lil feel as if she were the lowest. “Cerberus is a big part of the complication, yeah,” she found herself saying. She felt her breath catch. She knew she should have shut up, she hadn’t meant to say that. Shit, she must have been hanging around Garrus too much . 

“I figured,” was the unexpected reply. “I heard a lot about them. I knew they put you through hell before the Alliance dragged you back.”

“Kind of the opposite actually,” she said after a pause. The words were forced past a lump in her throat. Part of her brain was screaming that this was a bad idea. She should just stop and do something else...but she had never let her fears rule her before. This was different, yeah, but she didn’t see the point in avoiding it now that they were this close. She was already at the edge. Might as well take the fall so she didn’t have to worry about what _could_ happen anymore. It couldn’t be any worse than what the reapers had thrown at her...right? She felt light headed, and she knew she was trembling slightly. At least, if this went south the way she feared it would, Garrus was still be there. She hoped. 

“Yeah, I heard that too.” 

That reply shocked her to the core and she froze. “What do you mean?” 

“I mean that I asked Vakarian where you were while you were gone. He actually decided to tell me the truth.” Her mother reached forward to touch the back of her hand. “I can’t say much good about those Cerberus bastards, but at least they brought my daughter back to me.”

It felt like the bottom of her stomach had dropped out. Suddenly she felt very light. Not dizzy exactly but something odd. “He told you? So you already knew?” For some reason that was once scenario she hadn’t considered. Well, she had, but all the ones she had thought of hadn’t been as nonchalant as this.

“I just said that, didn’t I?” her mother smiled. “I guess that would be a little complicated to explain to your mother.” 

“That I’m a cyborg zombie now? Yeah, a bit.” Lil could feel her voice shaking. She swallowed and tried to get some control back. 

“Not exactly the words I would use to describe it,” her mother cocked her head slightly. “Is that what this has been about? You not wanting me to know about Cerberus?” 

“Yes,” Lil admitted. 

“Now I’m going to admit to being more than a little confused by that,” her mother abandoned the chair to sit careful on the edge of the bed. “Someone tossed me a miracle and brought my daughter back to life. Maybe I would find it hard to believe at first, but I’m not sure why you would be scared of me.”

“Because Cerberus didn’t just bring me back to life Mom, they rebuilt me. Put me back together, and I wasn’t sure how much of it was really me anymore. They might have told me I wasn’t a clone, or that it would have been easier to make a clone, but it was Cerberus. I wasn’t sure I trusted that for a long, long, time. Sometimes I’m still not sure if I trust it.” She tried not to look at her mother. Tried to keep from show exhausting this was. It would have been better for her to wait until she was feeling better, maybe. At least this way it could be over and she could actually rest, not worry about what she was going to do later on. 

“You don’t seem like a clone to me,” her mother said quietly. “Although I don’t think anyone could blame you for worrying about it.”

Lil shut her eyes. She could feel tears at the corner of her eyes, and that was stupid. She had saved the galaxy. Why would this break her so much? It was just an irrational fear that had grabbed her first when she had seen her mother’s note. She hadn’t trusted, Miranda, the Illusive Man, or any member of Cerberus to be telling her the truth. If they were lying, then her mother was one of the few people that would be able to tell. As much as she loved Garrus and had a hard time imagining life without him, they had only known each other for a few years. Her mother had raised her, and helped shape what she would become. If anyone would be the one to know she was different than who she said she was, it would be her.

For a while, Lil had thought she had managed to get ride of her doubts but then her mother had walked in during her stay with the Alliance and all of them had been rushing back. She had been so terrified that her mother wouldn’t know her, or she would be acting weird, or something else would be off. She has been more than half certain she was going to hear that she wasn’t Hannah Shepard’s daughter. Now, hearing her mother say almost the opposite was getting to her in ways she hadn’t thought possible. A weight she hadn’t even known was there had disappeared.

“Lillie?” 

Slowly Lil opened her eyes. “..Thanks. Maybe now I’ll start to believe it. Still not sure what _else_ Cerberus did to me though.”

“If they did anything, no matter what it might be, you’re still going to be my daughter,” there was absolute conviction in her mother’s voice. “And believe me, nothing can make me change my mind about that.” 

Lil gave up trying to keep her tears back and just smiled. “Thanks, Mom.” 

Her mother leaned over, and gave her a careful hug. “Just make sure you’re okay, Lillie.” 

Even though her arms still felt like lead, and it took almost every bit of strength she had left, Lil reached up to return the embrace. The pulled apart after half a second. “Still, glad you’re here.” The words took actually effort to form. Now that she wasn’t running on adrenaline and not shaking, her body was letting her know that she had pushed things way too far. She settled back against the pillows, feeling amazingly heavy. Still, she tried to keep her eyes open. 

She felt, more than heard, her mothers sigh and there was a creak as her weight left the bed. “Go to sleep Lillie,” she heard her order. “People have waited this long to see you. Anyone who’s worth your time can wait a little longer.” 

Lil tried to mutter an agreement, but exhaustion was pulling at her and she slipped into sleep before she could even complete the thought. 

*~*~*~*~*

“I don’t care what the council wants,” Garrus growled not even bothering to keep his voice down anymore. “I still don’t see the point of me talking with them. You’re the Primarch, Victus. You’re the one they should be dealing with.” 

_“Primarch, yes,”_ Victus’ voice came from the omni-tool, _“But not one of the biggest heroes the galaxy has at the moment. And, unless you forgot, you happen to be one of the most senior advisors we have.”_

“I didn’t forget,” Garrus said, pacing back and forth along the narrow stretch of corridor, “I just don’t see the point in calling me one anymore. The only reason I was allowed that responsibility at all was because of the Reapers. You might not have noticed, but they’re gone now. I doubt the Senate is going to be jumping with joy at keeping me as an advisor.” He glanced back down the corridor he was in. There was the guarded double door at the end that led to Shepard’s private hallway. This was the area that was near the official checkpoint, and he was close enough that he was able to hear the hum of activity from the main hospital area. This was not _anywhere_ near where he wanted to be.

_“I do think I remember something about the Reaper’s falling, yes,”_ was the dry response from his omni-tool. _“That they are dead doesn’t matter anymore. You proved that you could make capable final decisions. That made an impression on a lot of people, Vakarian. Couple that with how many we lost during the war, and you have more people than you think supporting you.”_

“Well, nice to know. Not that it really makes that much off a difference right now,” Garrus glanced back toward the doors again. He should be back there, waiting with Shepard. He had promised her that. Getting dragged away because of politics hadn’t been part of the plan. The only reason he even had answered his omni-tool was because it was Victus. If he had known it would end in an argument that would get him banished all the way here he would have just let his friend suffer in silence. “Do we even have a Council anymore, really? The Citadel is kind of, you know, destroyed.” 

_“Damaged, not destroyed,”_ Victus said, sounding like he was repeating something. _“Sparatus and Tevos are both alive, although wounded. Both of them are trying their best to keep things organized and under control despite that. That’s probably half the reason why Sparatus wanted you to come to the Citadel. He needs some sort of symbol to hold up. You were in C-sec at one point. He’s trying to appeal to your sense of duty.”_

“Yeah, well, you can tell Sparatus to look for another puppet. I am not going up there. There are more important things for me to do down here.” He had gone out into the corridor in front of Shepard’s room, but when his subvocals had started raising enough that even humans could hear it one of the guards outside her door had coughed and suggested he was ‘making a disturbance’ with a glance at Shepard’s room of course, to remind him the walls weren’t that thick. He didn’t know whether to be happy that they had found a set of soldiers that actually seemed to like Shepard or just feel annoyed at being scolded like a raw cadet. 

He had listened to their advice, only for Shepard’s sake, and gone into this hallway after that. At least he could agree about them warning him. He would rather shoot himself in the foot than wake up Shepard when she was still so fragile. 

_“All I promised Sparatus was that I would pass along his message and suggest you contact him,”_ Victus didn’t even sound surprised by his refusal. _“I’ll try to keep him off your back for as long as I can, but eventually he’s going to get through himself. I understand why you want some time to yourself, but keep in mind that the galaxy is still spinning. People are going to want things from you, and I suggest you think about how you want to deal with them.”_

“I know, I know,” Garrus sighed. “Just…not right now. I have things to do.” 

_“If that’s how you want to play it. Be careful, Vakarian. People are already spreading rumors about where Shepard is. Half the media already has a good idea where to look. I suggest you keep an eye out.”_

For some reason it didn’t really surprise him that Victus knew the truth. “I will…and thanks for the warning,” Garrus cut the connection after that and stood silent. He had been aware that they couldn’t keep Shepard’s state and whereabouts secret forever. Alliance Command was probably already planning an interrogation. The thought made him growl softly. Another reason to stay near her. He was sure he could make it very clear to any of them that he wasn’t going to allow them to question Sheaprd for hours and hours. They could probably match any number of reports in sheer annoyance and persistence. Actually, they were probably worse because they felt they had a _right_ to be so intrusive. He would just have to make sure they understood how wrong they were.

The comment Victus had made about paparazzi already knowing where Shepard was, that worried him a little. He wandered forward a little, just until he could see towards where the main lobby of the hospital was. The guards on duty where probably keeping an eye on who came through the doors as well but he felt just a little better checking for himself. There was no one immediately in sight that he thought might be part of the media. No cameras at least, although he was pretty sure the hospital staff would chase out anyone that obvious about what they were doing. The guards should be able to stop anyone else, or at least he hoped they were competent enough to do that.

_Enough, Vakarian,_ he told himself, _you’d better get back to Shepard before someone else decides to call you for something stupid. Well, stupid-er._ He turned to walk away, but something out of the corner of his eye stopped him. It wasn’t even so much a thing as the sense of a color. A very familiar shade of grey that stopped him his tracks. His head snapped over and he caught sight of turian talking to a nurse. 

He knew that coloration and that build. That was impossible though, he knew she wasn’t on earth at the moment. Or, at least she hadn’t been the last time he had checked. There were plenty of turians here, it must just be someone similar looking to her. Then she turned, and he caught sight of her markings. He hurried though the checkpoint without even thinking about it. 

“Sol?” he called out once he was close enough. She whipped around, her eyes wide. 

“Garrus!” she limped over to him. He embraced his sister, a soft trill of relief escaping his subvocals for a moment before they separated. 

“What are you doing here?” he asked, “I thought you were still with the fleet! And why are you on your feet? Dad said your leg was broken, and I know you don’t heal that fast.” He glanced down at the reinforced cast that decorated the lower half of her right leg from the knee down. 

She waved his concerns away. “I’m not a child anymore, Garrus. It’s healed enough to walk on now, or else I wouldn’t even be down here. Do you really think anyone would have let me on a shuttle if I hadn’t been cleared by a doctor?” She gave him a stubborn look, as if daring for him to call her out on it. The only reason he didn’t was because their father had been the last person he remembered her being with, and he would have tried to haul her back himself if she hadn’t been cleared. Anyone else Sol probably would have been able to charm into doing what she wanted. 

“Okay, fine, you’re walking now,” he said as evenly as he could. It hadn’t escaped his noticed that there were several people giving them looks. Ones that had more to do with annoyance at them taking up part of the hallway than anything else. Reunions, happy or otherwise, weren’t uncommon here where the wounded were and one look at them probably told enough of the story that no one was curious. Happy, maybe, but not curious. Sol’s plates might be half a shade lighter than his were, and her eyes might tend more towards grey than blue, but they had the same markings (which even humans noticed) and the same mandible shape (which only other turians seem to realize) to mark them as family. He gently grabbed her arm and steered her towards a corner, out of the way of traffic. “That still doesn’t tell me what you’re doing here.” 

“On Earth or here specifically? I have answers to both.” Sol leaned back against the wall and flared her mandibles in a smirk. She was obviously trying to make the move look causal, but it didn’t escape Garrus’ notice that her position took some of the weight of her injured leg. His eyes flickered towards an empty chair that was a few feet away, but he knew better than to offer it to her or ask if she wanted crutches. It would just make her even more determined to prove she didn’t _need_ any help. His sister was too stubborn for her own good sometimes.

“Then why don’t’ you give me both answers?” he demanded. “I didn’t even know you were coming!” 

“Not my fault,” she shot back, “I sent you a message and everything. I even got confirmation that it went through. If you didn’t see it then it’s all on you.” 

He couldn’t find any fault in that statement and fought to keep his face blank. Okay, so he had been ignoring his omni-tool messages all morning, but if he had known that one was Sol’s he would have….well, done what, really? Gone to meet her? That would mean leaving Shepard. It was his sister though, one of the few family members he had left. Could he have chosen between them? 

He gave himself a mental shake and vowed to not worry about a situation that was already past. “Okay, I missed a message. You are here because…?”

“Because it was either come here or stay stuck up there and help Dad with organizational and political maneuvering,” Sol snorted. “I was stuck on bed rest and missed what’s probably the biggest battle this galaxy is ever going to see. I wanted to do _something_ physical and at least see the battlefield. Besides,” she added, “ _someone_ needed to come down here and check on you. It’s not like you’ve been in regular contact or anything.” 

“I sent a note!” he protested, “I told Dad I was fine and asked him to tell you that! I don’t need to be ‘checked on’ Sol. It’s not like I’m that irresponsible.” 

“Oh, I know that,” Sol crossed her arms and settled back with her mandibles flared in annoyance. “But the thing is, I keep remembering the first time I heard you say ‘I’m fine’. It was that time when you broke you arm, were freaked and looked like you were going to pass out any second but kept insisting you were _fine.._ ”

“That was when we were kids!” he protested, “and I was trying to keep _you_ from freaking out!”

“Exactly,” Sol said calmly. “So forgive me if I doubt every ‘fine’ that comes out of you. Turns out that’s probably a good thing. I went to the command center thinking that’s where a big shot like you would be..”

“I’m not a big shot, Sol,”

“And,” she raised her voice slightly and entirely ignored his protest, “I found out you weren’t there. When I started asking around, someone there told me that you had been running off to the _hospital_ at every spare opportunity.” She reached out and poked his chest armor. “Fine my _ass_ Garrus. What’s the matter with you?” 

It took several seconds for what she was worried about to make sense to him. “What do you…oh, spirits,” he groaned. “Sol, it’s nor for me, I swear.” She just kept glaring at him and he sighed. “Look, I did take a few hits during the final battle, I’ll admit that. Those are healed though, and if you ask anyone here they’ll tell you I’ve never been a patient. I’m just here visiting a friend. That’s it, I promise you.” 

Sol still had that disbelieving look on her face. “Visiting a friend. Every single day, every spare moment you have?”

“It’s complicated,” he started to say. 

“Garrus!” his name interrupted his train of thought. He turned to find Tali trotting towards him. “What are you doing out here? Did something happen?” She stopped as she reached his side and finally seemed to realize he was talking with someone. “Oh. Sorry, am I interrupting something?”

Sol was giving Tali a curious look, and Garrus decided it was better if she didn’t get the chance to ask questions. “Tali, this is my sister, Solana. Sol, this is Tali'Zorah. She’s an old friend that served on the Normandy with me.” 

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Sol said, “Garrus has mentioned you a few times, and I heard the reports. You have a pretty impressive reputation.” 

Garrus wondered just what reports Sol had been reading to make her say that. 

“Thank you,” Tali replied, relaxing a little. “I wish I could say the same, but for some reason Garrus doesn’t seem to talk about his family much.” Even though he couldn’t see past her helmet, Garrus got the feeling that Tali was giving him a glare of her own. 

“Sounds like him,” Sol agreed.

“It’s a little thing called privacy,” he said after half a second. “I’m not required to share my life story with the whole world.” 

“No,” Tali said, “you just babble about everything else. Constantly.” 

“I’m not that bad,” he protested, and Sol snorted in amusement. “Well, maybe sometimes.”

“Or constantly,” Sol cut in. “he’s been that way since we were kids.” 

“Why am I not surprised?” Tali sounded amused. 

“Did no one inform me that it’s ‘Pick on Garrus’ day? Because that would have been a good thing to know.” 

“Sorry,” Tali covered the speaker on her mask with a hand. “But I think your ego can handle it.”

“Oh, it can, believe me,” Sol chuckled. 

“Look, can we stop with the mocking already? I think that’s enough mocking for today,” Garrus said pleasantly. “Is there something you needed Tali?” 

“Not really,” the quarian admitted, “I was just going to visit Shep..” She looked over at Sol then and seemed to freeze. 

“Shep?” Sol glanced back and forth between them and Garrus could just feel the gears turning in her head. She had always been far too good at reading between the lines and putting facts together. This wasn’t exactly the hardest puzzle if you knew what to look for either. “This has something to do with Commander Shepard, doesn’t it?” 

Tali gave an outright squeak at that. “N..no, of course not!” she stammered, twisting her fingers together and glancing at him frantically. Garrus just sighed. 

“It’s all right,” he said motioning to Tali to calm down. “We can trust her. I think Shepard would understand.”

“So Shepard _is_ here,” Sol said settling back with a slightly smug look on her face. “There was a group of reporters outside that seemed to think she was, and you’ve got rumors flying saying that Shepard is secretly alive. I just hadn’t found any confirmation. I should have figured things out when Garrus said he was visiting someone here. Shepard is the only one I’ve ever seen him that devoted to.” 

“Yes, she’s here,” Garrus said quickly. He didn’t want Sol to think anymore closely than that. His relationship with Shepard was one thing he hadn’t really opened up to his family about yet, and he wasn’t sure what Sol’s reaction to it was going to be. He would rather be somewhere a little more private than the middle of a hospital when she figured it out. “Alliance Command just thought things would be a little safer if we kept her location secret.” 

“Great job they’re doing with that,” Sol said. “She’s the big hero. You think people would be able to keep quiet about it?”

“They did for a while,” Tali pointed out. “It’s just that lately, people have gotten a bit sloppy I guess. We just wanted to make sure she was going to be okay.” The quarian was twisting her hands around each other again, and glanced off the side, towards the checkpoint. 

“Uh-hu,” Sol gave Tali a measuring glance. “And I guess that she’s ‘all right’? Or at least the rumors seem to think she is.” 

Garrus weighed his options before answering. “She was out of it for a while, but she’s been awake and talking the last couple of days. Tired though, but the doctors say that will pass.” Sol was going to be curious, and she rarely ever let go of an idea once she got it in to her head. If he answered her questions now, it would save having to deal with them later. 

“If she only just woke up, I can think of a couple other reasons that the Alliance wanted her condition kept quiet,” Sol mused. “It would be a hard blow to morale if they announced the galaxy’s biggest hero was alive, and then she turned out to be a vegetable or something.” 

Tali tensed fingers tightened together as Garrus growled. “Sol!” in warning tones that seeped into his subvocals. 

”Sorry,” Sol had the grace to wince a little and duck her head. “I know she’s a friend of yours. But hey, at least that didn’t happen, right?”

“Right,” Tali said, letting out a breath, “ I’ve been trying to avoid thinking about it. They mentioned it to us too, but….” 

“Tali,” Garrus interrupted. “Could you go check on Shepard for me? She wasn’t awake when I left her, but she’s been out for a while and might be soon. She would probably appreciate having a friend around, and she hasn’t had a chance to see you yet..” 

“Sure,” Tali looked grateful for a chance to get away for a bit. “I think she’ll understand talking with family.” 

“Her mother’s with her,” he called after Tali as she set off, “watch out for that.” Tali just waved at him before disappearing down the checkpoint corridor. 

“So,” Sol said as soon as Tali was gone. “Commander Shepard, huh? You’re here everyday just for her.” 

“She’s the closest friend I have, Sol,” he said. Complete and utter truth even if it wasn’t all of it. “Can you really blame me for being worried after everything that’s happened?” 

“Not really,” Sol shifted a little trying to get more comfortable. Garrus fought the urge to reach out and help her. She wouldn’t appreciate it. “You always seemed like you were close with her.” Sol was studying him now, as if she were trying to come up with a theory. “Still, you’re going to have to rip yourself away from her side at some point. I doubt Dad would be pleased at having to come all the way here.”

Garrus felt any explanations he had been going to make about why he was staying so close to Shepard vanish from his mind. “Dad? Wait, is dad here?” He glanced around, half expecting his father to pop out of the ground at any moment. His heart was already speeding up, he could feel it. If there was anyone aside from Sol he didn’t want finding out about his relationship with Shepard, it was his father. They might have made a sort of truce in their relationship and were slowly starting to repair things, but he didn’t trust the tradition bound elder Vakarian to be anything less than _displeased_ about his only son dating a human.

“Oh, he’s not here right now,” Sol said, snapping him back to what was in front of him and letting himself relax a little. “He’ll be catching a shuttle down soon, though. Things have calmed down enough with the fleet that he feels he can afford to come down here and check on you. You did make it pretty obvious that you weren’t going to go up there to see us. At least not right away.” 

“Wait, didn’t Dad just send you down to check on me? Why is he coming himself?” 

“He didn’t send me to check on you,” Sol said patiently. “I came down on my own because I was bored. Then I decided to check on you.” She shook her head slightly. “Not that it really matters. I could try to send him messages saying that you really were okay for once, but he would probably still insist on coming to see for himself.”

“I don’t need him checking on me,” Garrus found himself growling and tried to force his subvocals to behave. 

“Garrus, it’s not about that and you know it” Sol said sharply. “After everything that happened; Mom, the war, me getting hurt, he’s just worried. He does care about you, you know. You’re his _son_.”

“I know,” Garrus rumbled and went to lean against the wall beside her. “It’s just complicated.”

“The two of you are both rock-headed and stubborn, but you’re still family. You can at least try to get along with him for a bit, right?”

“Riiight,” Garrus wasn’t entirely sure about that himself, but at least he would try. He owed his Dad that much at least. “I’ll deal with him. It’ll be fine.” _I hope._


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next part of Intercept. I'm trying to set up some stuff for next chapter, and letting other characters react to Shepard being awake. A big thanks to my beta Oinkythepiggy for catching my mistakes!

 

Hannah stared down at her daughter’s sleeping face, trying to sort out the horde emotions that were running rampant through her mind. Somehow, somewhere, she had messed up. In her rush to not think too hard about how her daughter had come back from the dead, she had forgotten that maybe, just maybe, coming back from the dead wasn’t an easy thing. Lil had called _herself_ a ‘cyborg zombie’. Oh, she was fairly sure her daughter had been more than half joking with that, but she knew Lil. Part of that had been serious. For a moment Hannah wondered what it must have been like, to die and come back after two years. To find that everything you knew, _everyone_ you knew, had changed and moved on without you because you hadn’t _been_ there. Hadn’t been anywhere.

She should have put more effort into making time to see her daughter. Her reasons at the time had seemed good; she didn’t know where her daughter was, she had thought her daughter was on a deep cover mission, and she had her own duties to attend to. Yet none of them could have really stopped her from going to see Lil if she had put her mind to it. Or at least she could have sent more letters, let her daughter know she wasn’t alone in the universe. 

Or, Hannah realized, maybe she’d already known that. Lil was _more_ than comfortable around Vakarian after all. Whatever hang-ups her resurrection had brought into her family appeared to be entirely absent when it came to him. The Admiral couldn’t help being a tiny bit jealous at the thought that she had accepted him so easily, which was unfair, she knew. For all that she knew, Lil and Vakarian could have had problems of their own, and worked them out long before they’d returned to Alliance space. It still didn’t erase the guilty, sour taste in her mouth knowing that he had been there for her daughter when she hadn’t been. 

The door to the room opening was the last sound she wanted to hear, but her annoyance vanished when she saw the quarian slipping into the room instead of Garrus. 

“Admiral Shepard,” Tali said by way of greeting. “I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

“It’s fine Admiral Tali’Zorah,” she replied formally but smiled as she said it, and heard the quarian sigh as the tension drained from her.

“It’s _Tali_ ,” the young woman stressed as she crossed the room. The two of them had been talking, and the young quarian had insisted they not be formal with each other. Hannah couldn’t help but think part of _that_ came from feeling slightly overwhelmed by the title. Something that she could relate to all too well. 

“Then you have to call _me_ Hannah,” she said, smiling a little. “Admiral is only when I’m on duty, not here.” Granted half of her daughter’s friends had decided they were still going to refer to her by rank but, hey, she could always hope they would start to relax around her after a while. Admiral was a title she hadn’t wanted, and it still felt jarring to hear it, especially when it came from someone she wasn’t in command of.

Tail turned her head towards her; “Fine, I’ll use Hannah then,” and she could hear the smile in the younger woman’s voice. “Just as long as you don’t call me Admiral. I’m still getting used to that.” 

“You’re not the only one,” Hannah sighed. “So, came to check up on her?” 

“Yeah,” the quarian took the remaining seat next to the bed. “I wanted to be here earlier but there’s been so much to do that I couldn’t get away until just now. I ran into Garrus outside and he said she wasn’t awake but I still wanted to be here. Just in case.” 

A small smile touched Hannah’s lip. “He’s only half right.” When Tali turned to look at her, she outright grinned. “She woke up for a bit after he left. We talked for a while before she drifted off again.” 

“What?” Tali’s helmeted face turned toward the ceiling for a moment before she sat down in the chair with a thud. “Keelah, not again! I never seem to make it in time! Every time I’ve tried to come see her she’s always gone back to sleep again. I swear it must be a curse,” she huffed.

“Bad luck doesn’t last forever,” Hannah said gently. “Lawson and Chakwas said she was only awake for a few minutes, but Garrus said she was awake and coherent for a lot longer when he talked to her, and she was able to have an entire conversation with me. She’ll be up and talking with you in no time.” 

“I know,” Tali sighed, “But I still can’t help but feel a little jealous. I mean, if I had to choose I would have said that you and Garrus _should_ be the first ones to see her, but I still wish I could have been there. I worry.” There was so much emotion from the young woman, that Hannah had no trouble telling her state of mind even without her facial expressions visible. It was somewhat endearing. 

“You’re her friend, of course you do,” Hannah smiled at her. “I am glad Lil managed to find such a loyal crew. It makes me feel better knowing that she had that kind of backup.”

Tali seemed to deflate into her chair. “I’ve never been happier than when I was serving on the Normandy, Shepard wasn’t just my captain, she was my friend. I keep replaying what happened over and over again, trying to figure out what we could have done differently. If I had convinced her to take me along then maybe…maybe something would have been different.”

“I’ve seen the reports,” Hannah told the young quarian gently. “I went over them I don’t know _how_ many times when we were looking for my daughter. There’s nothing you could have done to help her. We aren’t even sure if there was a way you _could_ have been able to help her once she got inside the beam.” Hannah shook her head. “Besides, I know my daughter. Once she’s made up her mind about something it’s impossible to change it. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d already decided that she was going to finish things alone, come hell or high water.”

“Oh, I know that,” Tali grumbled. “I’ve dealt with her enough to know we wouldn’t have been given a choice. It just doesn’t help this feeling.”

Hannah heaved a sigh. “No, I suppose it doesn’t.” She looked down at her daughter. “At least now you’ll be able to yell at her personally for taking risks like that.”

“ _If_ I’m here when she wakes up,” the young quarian leaned forward. “Do you know how often she’s coming to? I mean, I know it’s a bit soon to tell, but the last time I heard anything about it was last night when Garrus was here, and he said she wasn’t awake when _he_ left, and I don’t know how long ago that was..”

“Not that long ago,” Hannah told her. “He was only gone about five minutes or so before she opened her eyes again.” She allowed small smirk to form on her face. “I’m not going to let him forget about that either. Let him curse his own luck for a while.” She was fairly sure him not being able to shut up was part of what had caused the Lil to wake up anyway. Let being away be his punishment for that. “Or, at the very least I’m going to make sure he doesn’t forget about it anytime soon. He’s been here longer than I was and managed to miss her.”

Tali had cocked her head and was staring. Or at least Hannah assumed that she was staring. She could barely see the glow of the eyes through the helmet. “I thought…” Tali’s voice was hesitant, “I thought that you and Garrus were…getting along.” The last was said with such delicacy that Hannah almost wanted to laugh. 

“We are,” she answered, “and I honestly don’t have anything against him. But he is dating my daughter, and as such I retain the right to tease him unmercifully whenever I get the chance.”

Tali studied her for a second then nodded slightly. “I believe you, but I think teasing him about _this_ , about missing Shepard being awake, that wouldn’t be fair. That would be cruel.” 

It was said with such frankness that for a moment the Admiral was taken back. “Cruel? Isn’t that a bit of an overstatement?”

“Maybe,” Tali admitted, “but maybe not. You don’t know Garrus like the rest of us do. He took Shep…the Commander’s death hard. I think he blames himself for not being there when it happened, as if by being there he could have done something to save her.” It was on the tip of Hannah’s tongue to remind Tali that the turian hadn’t been the only one mourning her daughter. However she had developed a sense of when it was best not to speak, and kept silent as the quarian continued. “We’ve tried telling him it wasn’t true, _Shepard_ tried telling him he couldn’t have done anything…but I know he didn’t believe her. Then Shepard shoved us all on the shuttle before the beam, and she ended up… _here._ ” Tali gestured at the bed. “And he feels like he failed her by not being there again.” She shook her head. “Maybe I am over thinking it just a little, but I can’t help believing that even something as small as missing her being awake will get to him after all he’s been though.”

At first Hannah wasn’t sure she really believed that. Vakarian had seemed stable enough to put up with a little teasing, but as Tali had said, she still didn’t know him that well. He had been through a lot, she was perfectly willing to believe that. All of them had been though a lot. Maybe she didn’t know him that well, but it wasn’t as if she was lacking empathy. If the tables were turned, and it had been him here, would she appreciate him mocking her about that? She didn’t even have to think about that answer. Ignoring it because she felt like teasing him was more than a little selfish. “…I’ll keep that in mind,” she said out loud. “Don’t worry, I know how to hold back. I’m hot trying to hurt him here.” 

“Thank you,” Tali said relaxing back into her seat. “And don’t worry, he can put up with most other teasing just fine. He needs that ego taken down once in a while. It’s just..”

“My daughter he’s sensitive about. I get that, and I can understand.” Hannah closed her eyes for a moment. Oh, she could understand that very well. Then she opened them again and looked at the quarian. “..Vakarian said he and my daughter weren’t…together until after she came back. You almost made it sound like they were seeing each other before that.” 

“I…did?” Tali seemed surprised. “That’s not what I was getting at all. Back on the SR-1 they were just good friends.” Tali stopped and seemed to turn her head thoughtful. “Liara _did_ think they were together for a little while after she came on board, but then there was Kaidan and I know that the gossip would have been even _worse_ if it had been Garrus.”

“Wait,” Hannah said slowly, “you said Kaidan. Do you mean the Major Alenko that’s been hanging around here recently?”

Tali seemed to freeze for a moment. “Ummm…yes?” she said in a small voice. “Although I’m really not sure I should be answering that. The Commander would probably kill me.” 

“Then let’s just forget about it then,” Hannah rubbed her forehead, deciding she really did not need to know the details of her daughter’s love life. Not unless it started interfering with her recovery. “As long as it’s not going to lead to a cock-fight in the middle of the hospital, it’s none of my business.” 

“Uhh,” Tali drew back in apparent confusion. “I think my translator is having trouble with that one. But, um, no, no fighting. At least I don’t see why there would be. Garrus and Kaidan went though the entire war without anything happening. They aren’t so petty that it would come up again now. And I’m pretty sure they know Shepard would rip them apart if they tried it.” 

“Good,” Hannah said, just as there was a slight beep from her omni-tool. “Otherwise, they would have been dealing with _me_.” She checked the message as Tali made a noise that sounded suspiciously like smothered laughter. She groan when she saw the message though. She hadn’t realized how _late_ it had gotten. 

“Bad news?” Tali said. 

That got a head shake in reply. “Nothing to worry about. Just a reminder that being cleared for active duty means I can’t spend all my time here, as much as I want to. I have things to do.”

“I understand,” Tali nodded slightly. “It’s been hell trying to get even a few moments to myself, what with trying to get the Relays back online and making sure supplies are coming in. I wanted to come see Shepard sooner, but..” she trailed off and shrugged helplessly. 

“But we _all_ have our duties.” Hannah doubled check her other messages, and then closed her omni-tool. Nothing there that couldn’t wait until she got back to the Alliance headquarters. “And maybe you can help me with mine. Give me an update on whatever progress your people have made with the Relays and I can at least pretend I was doing something productive while I was here.”

Tali laughed. “Okay, I can try to help with that. Although it’s not just the quarians and geth working on that problem right now. We have engineers from all the races working to gather data. Earth is…nice, but no one wants to be stuck here.” 

“And…?” she raised an eyebrow at the quarian. 

“There hasn’t been that much change since we sent the last official report,” Tali was tapping a finger on her knee. “Although we did get some recent news from the team at the relay itself. One of the geth primes thinks that the relay is running some kind of background program. We’re not sure what it is exactly, but we believe it could be a sort of diagnostic program. What _that_ could mean we’re not sure yet, and we’ve been holding off saying anything officially until we have something more concrete to go on.” Her movements stilled. “We don’t want to raise any hopes.”

“So this is all unofficial?” Hannah asked. After half a second, Tali nodded. 

“I guess it has to be. I’m not sure I should even be talking about it yet.”

“Don’t worry, my lips are sealed and your name will never come up.” Hannah checked the chrono on her omni-tool once last time and sighed. “I supposed I should be going. Soon I’m going to start getting calls demanding to know where I am. I’d rather not let that wake Lil up.” She stood slowly, holding back a sigh. Normally she didn’t back down or try to dodge responsibility when her duty called for it, but she hadn’t anticipated having to deal with so many politicians. She would almost rather be fighting Reapers again. Even that would be a cleaner battle. When she got around to the other side of the bed, near the door, she paused to look back at Lil. “Will you,” she said out loud, “keep an eye on her? I know it’s not fair to ask but…”

“Of course I will,” Tali answered instantly. “It’s what I came here to do anyway.” 

“Thank you,” Hannah gave a grateful nod at the young quarian before she headed out the door. It was more than a little foolish to worry so much, especially when Lil was actually doing better than she had been when she had first been brought in, but she couldn’t help it. That was her daughter, and oddly enough her regaining consciousness was only making it harder to just leave.

The shrill beeping of her omni-tool, right on time, cut through her thoughts and the Admiral shook her head before answering. “Hannah here.” 

“Admiral Shepard,” Hackett’s voice came back tired sounding. “Where are you?” 

“At the hospital,” she said without slowing down her stride, “exactly where I said I was going to be. And don’t worry,” she added before he could even ask. “I’m on my way back to headquarters now. I’ll go over the reports once I get back. There was just something here I had to take care of.” 

“She is your daughter.” There wasn’t even a hint of a question in his voice. “How is she doing?”

“Better,” she said after a moment. “She talked to me a little. It was nice to hear her voice again.” She tried to keep her voice level, but it was a struggle. ‘Nice’ was such a gross understatement. 

“Good,” and there was relief in Hackett’s voice. He had always been supportive of Lil, no matter what she had said or done. She had to respect him for that at least. “The doctors seemed optimistic about her recovery time, but unspecific and I want your opinion. How soon until you think she’ll be back on her feet?”

“I have no idea,” she replied. “The doctors are being even more obtuse with me than they are with you. I don’t think they have any idea when she’ll be up. But knowing her? Lil will be on her feet as soon as she can manage it. We’ll probably have more of a struggle keeping her in bed than anything else. She hates being told what she can’t do.” 

“I thought as much,” Hackett sounded almost amused. “If she does get that stubborn, I think you’re the only one I’ll trust to keep her in the hospital. I’m afraid her crew would help her escape.”

“They might surprise you,” she couldn’t help remembering the look on Garrus’ face when he watched over her daughter. Somehow he didn’t seem like the type who would just let her wander off while she was injured. Still. She would have a word with him about it later, if she had to. He seemed like the type to listen to reason. 

“I’m still leaving it to you. Somehow I think you might be the only person in the galaxy that has a prayer of making her listen.”

That was answered with a short bark of laughter as she reached the end of the corridor. “Now you’re overestimating me. It’s been _years_ since she’s bothered to listen to her mother.” It had hurt at first, realizing that Lil was an adult and off making her own grown-up decisions. That pain had mostly been dealt with years ago, although the worry about her daughter had never left. Even her being proud as all hell of Lil didn’t change that. 

Hackett, however, just chuckled quietly. “You’re still her mother. I doubt she’s going to forget that.” He said, then fell silent for a second before speaking up slowly. “Hannah..”

“Just spit it out Hackett.” One thing she’d learned over the course of the war was that the sort of hesitance he had in his voice just now was never a good thing. 

There was a gusty sigh from over the com-channel. “I hate to ask, but I have to. Her memories, Hannah. Has she remembered anything else?” 

She came to a dead stop. “You’re really going to ask me that? After all this time worrying over Lil, do you really think my first act would be trying to drag something painful out of her mind when I’m thrilled that she’s even able to _talk?!”_ The words came out as a growl. “And frankly, I don’t know what the Alliance hopes to gain from pushing this. You know people have lost memories from _less_ trauma than what Lil has been through. Honestly, after everything that’s happened, I’m almost glad that she doesn’t remember. She _deserves_ a rest, and I do not care what the Alliance wants from her. She’s not going to magically regain her memories just to satisfy their curiosity!” 

Hannah was glad that she was still in the hallways at this point. The only people she was likely to run into were doctors or the guards. Better than outside, where this conversation would be attracting more attention than she was comfortable with. At least here she could be as loud as she wanted without worrying.

“Hannah,” Hakett’s voice was sharp, but he was using special emphasis on her name, not her rank. “You know I agree with that. I am not denying that she’s done more for us than anyone else out there.”

“Then why bring it up now?” She asked, getting more and more annoyed. “Why not just leave her alone? Let her _rest_ for once.”

“If it was up to me you know I wouldn’t even have brought it up,” Hackett said, and she could hear the exhaustion in his voice. At another time that would have worried her, but she couldn’t bring herself to care at the moment. “But it’s not up to me. The Crucible might have worked, but we still aren’t sure how. People might be glad that the Reapers are dead, but some of those in charge aren’t going to rest easy until they get answers and can assure themselves they aren’t coming back.”

“They can worry themselves to an early grave for all I care,” Hannah snapped. “Tell them to put that energy into rebuilding, not into trying to interrogate someone who’s barely been awake two days!” She shook her head, “If we give it time, Lil’s memories might even return on their own! I might not be a doctor, but I’m willing to bet they would agree with me.” 

“They do,” Hackett sighed. “We’ve already had doctors weigh in with their options, but our temporary council down here is still having doubts. I know there’s been talks about trying techniques to see if they can bring her memory back sooner…”

“Over my dead body,” Hannah growled, cutting off the Admiral. “My daughter is not going to end up being treated like some guinea pig for curious politicians that are trying to poke into things they don’t understand!” She was also sure the rest of her daughter’s crew would respond to a suggestion like that in the exact same way. If push came to shove then she had no qualms about telling them exactly what they were planning.

Hackett chuckled over the line. “I thought you might say something like that. Which is why I arranged for you be part of their upcoming meeting.” He sounded far too amused that prospect. “I figure if anyone can get them to change their minds, it’s you.” 

“What?” Hannah was sure she half shouted the words but chose to ignore the curious glances one of the guards sent her way. “Damn it, Hackett you know I hate tangling with politicians. I dealt with that enough when the Crucible was under construction. Get. Someone. Else.” 

“I would if there was anyone I felt would be half as effective as you’ll be. You’re the single person I can see as having a real shot as making them back off. At the very least I think you’ll make a strong…impression on them.” 

The last thing she wanted to do was be trapped in a room with a bunch of bottom-feeding assholes who were so focused on the ‘how’ that they weren’t paying attention to the little people that need them most. On the other hand, she could see where Hackett was coming from, and if she was there then maybe she could shame or bully them into actually getting something done for the day. 

“I’m still going to shoot you the next time I see you,” she said conversationally. Hackett just laughed. 

“I know. Goodbye Admiral, and good luck with them.”

“I’ll need it,” she responded before she cut the connection. Then she shook her head before heaving out a sigh and heading down the corridor to the rest of the hospital. She was not looking forward to this. At all. However, this was part of her duty, and she would do the best she could with what she was given. She had been doing that since the Crucible construction, and she was not going to allow herself to fail this time. Not with her daughter’s well-being on the line. 

She was distracted and didn’t notice she was walking faster than normal until a cramp seized her bad leg after she was through the final guard post. Pain twisted up it as it locked and she was forced to lean heavily on her cane. She took forced deep breaths through her nose, trying to fight the pain back, hoping she wouldn’t fall, and trying to keep the pain from showing at all. It wasn’t as if this was the worse she had ever endured, but if a doctor saw her white knuckled grip or the lines on her face she would have a much harder time explaining that. 

Damn doctors didn’t know when to back off. 

At last the cramp when away and she straightened up, slowly putting more weight back on her leg. It felt stiff, but it held. Maybe she _should_ be taking things just a tiny bit slower. Just as long as her doctor never found out about it. 

A slight buzzing her in her ears, something that was felt more than heard, made her look off to her side. Vakarian was there, something that slightly surprised her. When she hadn’t run into him in the hallway, she had assumed he’d been called away by the Primarch. 

“…So you haven’t heard from anyone else?” Vakarian was shifting from foot to foot. Apparently ‘nervous fidget’ was one thing their species had in common. 

“Nothing concrete,” the female turian he was talking with said. “We’re still sorting though what information we can get but it’s so little and we have so many people asking after friends, family, or _anyone_ they know. We’ve barely been able to make any progress.” She heaved a sigh. “And you know Dad. He’s not going to use his authority to push our requests to the front of the lists.” 

Hannah recognized the marks on the female turian’s face. They matched Vakarian’s. Some sort of relative maybe? Turian clan marks weren’t her specialty but they were acting familiar with each other. She didn’t think them having the same marks would be a coincidence. The other turian was also wearing a heavy cast on her left leg, which was unsurprising given how many had been injured.

“If it had been from any other time, I would put in something about how that sounds like him,” Vakarian rubbed the back of his neck. “But according to the Primarch he was using official communications to sneak in little messages bugging people about my whereabouts.”

“Really?” the female turian cocked her head. “Okay I’ll admit that’s just a liiiittle bit surprising. Understandable, but that he would even bend the rules like that is weird.” Her mandible twitched. “Although it might explain why he’s so against pushing our requests to the top of the lists. Half the crew handling information has done it, but Dad refuses to use the rank he has now. If it’s because he feels guilty about looking for you..”

“Then he wouldn’t risk it to look for anyone else,” that got a sigh from Vakarian. “I suppose I should feel flattered he was that worried. I don’t think he’s ever broken the rules for me before. Makes me feel all special inside.” 

“You really don’t pay as much attention as you think,” the female turian’s voice was clipped. Hannah wondered if they were siblings. They were certainly _acting_ like it, although she wasn’t sure turian siblings would act the same as human ones. “At least now that he _knows_ you’re fine, maybe he’ll let me start double checking, see if I can find anyone.” 

Vakarian seemed to hesitate for a moment. “You really haven’t heard from anyone since the end of the war?” 

“I did get word from Jaenex that he’s recovering on another ship.” 

“Jaenex? You said recovering. He’s hurt? How badly?”

The female turian shook her head. “I’m not sure. He made it sound like it had been pretty serious, but you know how he is. He’ll make a broken claw into a life threatening injury just for the drama.” 

“Yeah, but I’m still not willing to trust him. Tell me if you hear from him again?”

“You know I will,” the female turian sighed. “And anyone else I happen to get into contact with.”

“Thanks,” Vakarian said heavily. “So he’s really the only one..?” 

“Yeah.” 

Seeing Vakarian like that, Hannah couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. It was hard sometimes, in the face of personal losses, to remember that everyone was working under their own grief. She turned, cursing the stiffness in her leg, and walked toward them. “Looking for family, Vakarian?” 

He turned to look at her in surprise, his mandibles flaring. “Admiral? What are you doing out here? I thought you were..” he glanced back towards the guarded entrance. 

“Unfortunately I do have other duties besides this,” she told him dryly, then said in a gentler tone. “And I think my daughter will be fine. Tali was with her when I left.”

“Ah, good,” Vakarian relaxed just a fraction of an inch. “Tali’s probably happy. She was anxious to see Lil, although I think she was hoping for her to be a bit more…awake.”

“I know,” Hannah nodded. “She told me that, and was more than a little disappointed that she’d just missed that.”

“What?” Garrus’ voice seemed to waver for a moment. “Missed? She’s awake?” He took half a step towards the hallway before he caught himself. “Or, I mean was awake?” he was shifting his weight back and forth anxiously, and he kept glancing back at the guard post. “She didn’t look like she was anywhere _near_ conscious when I left.” She couldn’t tell if he was disappointed or slightly annoyed. Damn subvocals still weren’t clear to her. 

She had to admit it was kind of amusing seeing the look on his face. “She woke up a little after you left. Just opened her eyes.” Hannah tried to control her voice but even she could hear the slight waver in her voice. “It was nice to hear her voice again, to know she was all right. Not that I doubt you, Vakarian,” she couldn’t help saying, “but I needed to hear something like that for myself.” 

“Don’t worry, I understand completely. It’s hard to really believe it until you hear her start talking to you.” The turian took a breath. “How was she when you talked with her? Did she seem…normal to you?” 

“In reference to her? Yes, she seemed normal,” what exactly that conversation had been about was something that Hannah had no intention of mentioning to anyone. That was a private, family affair. If her daughter ever chose to discuss the conversation, and her own fears, with Vakarian, well, that was her own business. The turian just wasn’t going to find out from her. “She drifted off pretty fast, but she was awake for longer than the doctors said happened when she first woke up. I might not be a medical professional but I’m guessing that’s improvement.”

Vakarian gave a distracted nod, and again glanced back towards the entrance to the hallway. “She’ll be sleeping for a bit now, won’t she?” he sounded disappointed. 

“Probably,” Hannah said. “Though I have no idea for how long. It could be a while.”

“Yeah, probably,” came from the turian and he gave a longing look back towards the hallway. “I should let Tali have some time with her anyway. She’s been patient so far. No need to take that away from her.” By that point Hannah was certain he wasn’t talking to her, or even the other turian anymore.

Next to him the female turian snorted. “Would you just go already?” 

Vakarian snapped his gaze back around to look at her. “Sorry, what?” 

“Go!” The woman made a shooing motion that translated across species. “Like I don’t know the ‘I want to be anywhere else besides dealing with my sister’ look. It’s not like I haven’t seen it before. If you want to see your Commander, go. Spirits, you’re acting like you’re already there. Go, if it means that much to you.” 

Vakarian seemed to freeze for a moment, his mandible snapping tight to his face. “Sol..” he said hurriedly. “It’s not like that! I didn’t mean..” 

“Garrus,” Sol said impatiently, “I get it. Really. She’s a friend that’s just woken up, and I’m right here. We can talk later. It’s not like I’m going to be leaving Earth anytime soon.” She added, “Not like there’s really anywhere else I could go anyway.” 

“Yeah, that’s kind of been obvious” Garrus glanced back at the guards before turning back to his sister. “I just don’t want you to think I’m trying to ignore you and Dad. I haven’t exactly been around recently, and that’s my fault. No matter what happened, we’re family. I should have tried harder.” 

“I think helping to save everyone from the Reapers kind of made up for all that,” she crossed her arms. “It’s not like you’re going to be paying any attention to anything I say anyway.” 

“I would!” he protested indignantly, mandibles fluttering. “Or at least I will as long as you don’t start in on one of your stories about the newest guy you’ve taken a shine to. What number are we up to now? I lost track a long time ago.” 

Hannah couldn’t help chuckling. “Is he always like this?” she asked Sol. 

The female turian snorted. “This annoying? Yes. This impatient? That I would classify as ‘a bit worse than usual’.” 

“Oh, thank you so much Sol,” was the dry reply from her brother. “Apparently I missed the memo about this being-double-team-your brother day. I wonder why I even bothered getting out of bed.”

“This isn’t double teaming you,” Sol said sweetly, “that was just being honest. If I was really trying to mess with you it would be so, so much worse.”

”That isn’t really comforting.” 

“It wasn’t meant to be,” Sol pointed out and flared her mandibles at him. “And you’re halfway towards the door already. Are you really going to keep pretending that you want to stay here?” 

Vakarian had moved a few steps back, towards the hall guard post. He stopped immediately. “Sorry. I’m just…”

”Go, Vakarian,” Hannah sighed. “And tell my daughter hello for me if she wakes up while you’re there.” Not that she thought Lil would actually be awake for a while yet, but the turian’s anxious look made her feel pity for him.

“I will,” he said, and gave his sister one last glance. Sol sighed and made a shooing motion with one hand and he gave a head shake before starting towards the hallway. He stopped and looked back after a few steps. “I _will_ meet up with you later, Sol. We have a lot of catching up to do.” 

“Yeah, I know,” Sol said. As she shifted her weight, Hannah couldn’t help but notice that the female turian was keeping most of her weight off the leg with the cast on it. She wondered if she was even supposed to be up and around. “Just send me a message later,” Sol said to her brother, distracting the human from her line of thought. “We’ll probably be seeing a lot of each other anyway, if you’re working with the Primarch.” 

“Yeah, probably,” Garrus nodded, gave a last wave, and then he was gone. 

As they watched him vanish, Hannah kept a careful eye on the turian still next to her. “Are you really that okay with him just taking off like that?” 

“Not entirely,” Sol admitted as she looked at her. “I would have liked a chance to talk a bit more, but it isn’t that big of a deal.” She was silent for am moments, mandibles fluttering. “Besides, I don’t think I could really keep him here. Not when he’s acting like that.” There was a kind of head shake, and then Hannah found herself pinned by serious green turian eyes. “So you’re Commander Shepard’s mother.” It was said more as a statement than a question, but Hannah still nodded to it.

“Yes,” she confirmed. “Admiral Hannah Shepard at your service. I don’t believe I caught your name?” 

“Solana Vakarian, ma’am,” the turian, who suddenly seemed _young_ to Hannah, snapped to attention in something that was probably automatic for her, as military mad as turians were. Only this time she fell out of the military posture right away, all her weight shifting onto her good leg for a moment. Hannah might have missed the way Solana’s mandibles slapped tight to her face and the way the younger turian’s eyes narrowed if she hadn’t been watching for it. There was no sign the turian had been carrying a cane or a crutch of any sort, and she wasn’t acting like she should be without one. She wondered what doctor had let her off with jut a cast like that. Then again, hospitals and medical centers had been dealing with a massive influx of patients. Maybe she was a victim of that oversight. After all, she wasn’t bleeding, missing a limb, and clearly didn’t have any holes blown through her. Those who weren’t in immediate danger of dying tended to be shuffled out as soon as possible, so the doctors could focus on the people who needed their help more. There were so many wounded there was no way to treat all of them at once. Most with none critical injuries were just left to recover as best they could on their own. 

Or, Hannah had to admit to herself, maybe Solana was just stubborn. The Admiral would freely admit that she hadn’t known _Garrus_ Vakarian long, but ‘stubborn’ happened to be a very accurate adjective when it came to him. Who was to say that same trait wasn’t present in his sister? 

“At ease,” Hannah said, trying to fight back a smile at the last thought. Something translated across species very well, “I’m not even part of your military, and I’m off duty at the moment.”

“If you went through that war you more than deserve respect,” Solana did relax her stance however, and glanced back the way her brother had gone, then looked back at the human in front of her. “Since you’re her mother, I take it you’ve been with the Commander this whole time?” There was something in the turian’s voice that she couldn’t place, and it was an odd question, but Hannah nodded all the same. 

“As much as I’ve been able too, yes.” 

“And Garrus? What about him?”

Hannah was watching the younger turian careful as she spoke. “If you mean, has he been here since she was brought in…no. I take it there was some trouble with the Normandy when the Crucible went off so it took him a bit to get back. But since then? Yes, he’s been here.” 

Solana took another, harder look, at the way her brother had gone. She spoke without looking. “Then can I ask you something?” She finally looked back. “About Garrus and the Commander.” She finished the sentence hesitantly. 

Hannah looked at her for a moment. She was starting to wonder if she wasn’t the only family member who had been left in the dark about the relationship between Vakarian and her daughter. Not being the last person in the galaxy to have that piece of news dropped in her lap made her feel a bit better. Talking about it with someone? That was something she could do. 

Still, she was supposed to be dealing with those political assholes soon…fuck it. She was more than happy to make them wait. Dealing with Solana Vakarian was bound to be easier anyway. “All right,” she said at last. “But only if we sit down first.” She thumped her cane against the floor for emphasis. “I’m technically cleared for duty, but the doctors have been bugging me about resting as much as I can. I would rather not listen to them yell more than I have to.” She had been dealing with soldiers for decades. Outright telling Solana she looked like she needed to get off her feet would only make her deny it. Make her think she was doing it for someone else though, and she wouldn’t even question it.

“I understand that perfectly, ma’am,” Solana flared something that might have been a grin and glanced around. “There’s a waiting area over that that I think will be private enough.” She gestured down a small corridor, and Hannah just decided to trust her on that. It wasn’t as if she had been given the time to just go wandering around the hospital.

“Lead the way.” 

The ‘waiting area’ turned out to be a bench that was shoved in a small out-of-the-way corner. She was fairly certain Solana had chosen it more because it would be hard to be over heard than because it was convenient. Still, she wouldn’t help noticing how the female turian relaxed as she stretched her leg out. Apparently she wasn’t as healed as she had been trying to pretend. 

“I take it you’ve had doctors yelling at you too?” Hannah nodded towards the cast on the turian’s foot. 

Solana looked at the cast and sighed. “Spirits, yes. They wouldn’t even let me up for days, and kept me from actually fighting during the final battle.” She seemed to treat the last as a personal insult, but Hannah understood the frustration. 

“So you were injured before the fleets were called here?” 

“You could say that,” Solana’s hands clenched. “Got it getting off Palaven. A brute knocked a wall onto my leg when my father and I were trying to make it to an evacuation site.” She let out a breath and her hands slowly relaxed before she turned to look at the human next to you. “What about you?” 

“Slammed my hip into a bulkhead on my ship,” Hannah answered crisply, “but somehow I get the feeling you really aren’t interested in that story. You didn’t want to ask about old war wounds, did you?” 

“No,” Solana let another breath out. “Look, this is going to sound weird but, I’m curious…” she paused a rubbed the back of her neck, something she had seen the male Vakarian do several times. “My brother and the Commander...do you know how close they are? I don’t mean a political answer either,” she said quickly. “I mean what you’ve really seen.” The female turian was giving that almost predatory look Hannah had seen from turians when they were really focused on something. It was almost intimidating and she could see why people sometimes found turians threatening even when they weren’t trying to be.

“Keep in mind that I haven’t known your brother long,” she warned Solana. “Just since my daughter’s been in the hospital. I haven’t even had a chance to see them together, since she’s been unconscious.” 

That brought paused to the green-eyes turian. She seemed to freeze for a second. “Right,” she sighed. “That would make it a bit difficult. Sorry, I should have thought of that myself.” 

Hannah couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for her. “I can say,” she said quietly, “that Garrus has been there for my daughter as much as he can be. He’s never given up on her.” The words surprised her even as she spoke them. Yes, this was Garrus’ sister, but she hadn’t been intending to bring out compliments just because of that, just state the facts. And, no matter her personal feelings, she had to admit that Vakarian had been nothing but supportive. She was careful to keep her personal feelings out of her voice though. No need to drag another person into her personal baggage.  
“Everything else,” she finished, “is mostly just the usual rumors and reports. If you really want to know more I suggest asking them yourselves.” 

She wasn’t sure why Vakarian hadn’t told his sister about his relationship, although given how secret even Lil had kept it she could guess, but she wasn’t going to inform her. It was up to Vakarian to figure out how he wanted to handle that. Her daughter might be heavily involved in this, but it was still private business and she had never been a gossip. 

“Yeah, I figured that,” Solana sighed. “I had just hoped for something a little more solid. Garrus getting worked up over something isn’t that unusual, but I’ve never seen him acting like that before.” She paused and shrugged, “well, maybe once before. That’s why I’d hoped to come up with answers for it. It’s not like him.” 

“Then ask him the next time you see him,” Hannah said firmly. She had no intention of getting drawn in between the siblings; no matter how close her daughter was to one of them. Family quarrels always ended up getting very messy, very fast. 

“I’m going to ma’am,” Solana answered, sounding tried. She reached up and rubbed at her forehead. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to push like that. I’m just tired of not getting any answers, and I thought with this maybe I could finally get _something_.” The last word was said almost in a growl. 

“I know,” Hannah said slowly, “that they were careful about what sort of information they were giving out to civilians, but I didn’t think it was that bad. The leaders are still scrambling for answers ourselves, and don’t want to admit to it. Once we know what’s going on, I’m sure you’ll hear something.” 

“Admiral, most of us on the ships haven’t heard anything,” Solana shook her head. “If my father had more information he never mentioned it to me.” She looked up at the human woman. “We have people up there that are dying for word from their homes, their families. They want to know for sure that all the Reapers are gone, that the colonies and other homeworlds are safe, not just Earth.” She paused. “There are even some panicked enough to try convincing everyone that we’re not going back. That we’re stuck here.” 

Those rumors weren’t new. They’d been dealing with misinformation since the Relays shut down, but the Admiral hadn’t realized how far and fast it had spread. It was natural she supposed, and turian discipline would hold the fleet together, but who knew how long that would last. “Look,” she said at last, “they’re going to start releasing more information in a day or so, but I can give you some of it now if you want. I still don’t know why they’ve waited so long, really. It’s not like it’s sensitive material.” She nodded at the female turian. “It just didn’t come from me, all right? I doubt there’s anything the brass could or would do to me at this point, but I would rather not listen to them screech at me over it.” 

Solana flashed her a grin. “Don’t worry, I know how to keep my sources confidential. They won’t ever know where I got it from.” She settled back in her seat expectantly. 

“As I said before, the people in charge don’t know as much as they would like,” Hannah said, “which is part of the reason I think they’ve been keeping quiet about it. What we do know is that whatever that energy blast was that took out the Reapers, it did make the trip through the Relays. We’re fairly sure it would have affected all the other Reapers the same way it did here.” She rubbed a thumb over the top of her cane. “We’ve also confirmed the energy blast is the reason the Relays shut down. According to the scientists we have up there, it overloaded and triggered something they think is a fail-safe of sorts. It’s locked down all systems.” 

“All right,” Solana said slowly. “So we know what happened. I take it we don’t know how to fix it yet?” 

“Not yet,” Hannah was forced to admit, “they have made a bit of progress though. I just got some information from one of the quarians saying they’ve figured out there’s some sort of program running in the background. What that means, I don’t know, but she seems to think it’s a good thing.”

“At least it’s something,” Solana relaxed back onto the bench as best she could. “Thanks for mentioning it to me. Really. After everything else going to hell it’s nice to know we’re getting somewhere.” She made a soft clicking sound and cocked her head. “Although it would be nice to be able to tell everyone about it. You’re saying that they’re going to give out official reports soon?” 

“Within the next day or so,” Hannah was confident in that. There were still a few of the current leaders who would be happy to keep everyone in the dark until they could solve everything, but thankfully more logical heads had prevailed. “I’m going to push for them to release the information sooner, although I can’t make any promises.” Reluctantly, she looked down at the omni-tool alert that had been flashing for the last few minutes. There were several urgent messages from Hackett staring back at her. She didn’t have to listen to them to know what they said. “And I suppose I should get on that.”  
She looked back up at Solana. “I’m afraid I have to go. I’m supposed to be trying to talk sense into politicians right now, and I can’t put it off any longer.” 

“Don’t let me keep you,” Solana’s mandibles quirked upward slightly. “…And good luck with the politicians, ma’am. It sounds like you’ll need it.” 

“Considering what I’m up against?” Hannah said as she stood. “I probably will, so thank you for that.” She paused. “I’ll probably be seeing you around, won’t I?” 

“If my brother is here? Definitely.” 

Hannah chuckled and shook her head as she headed away from the female turian. There was a nagging feeling that she should have said something else to Solana, but she knew that there was nothing she could really _explain._ She was still coming to terms with that relationship, and trying to answer questions she didn’t have answers to herself would just end up confusing anyone. Better to let Lil and Garrus take care of it themselves. 

Besides, watching someone else be shocked by the revelation would at least be entertaining. 

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

There were faint voices again, arguing over her. Shepard possessed enough awareness to wonder why this appeared to be happening so often, but she considered that question secondary to who was speaking.

“I’m just going to stay here a tiiiny bit longer,” there was a familiar accent and echo behind the voice. Shepard knew who it was even before another voice spoke up. 

“You’ve been saying that for an hour, Tali,” Liara sounded more than a little amused. “It’s getting late, and I know you’ve been working yourself to the bone. I’m sure Shepard wouldn’t want you falling asleep here because you were waiting for her.” 

“I know,” Tali said heavily. “But still…just give me a little bit longer? Please, Liara. I know you’re trying to help, but I just want to _talk_ to her.” 

“You know I understand that. But how much good will you being here do if you’re so exhausted that you’re falling asleep in your chair?” 

Shepard decided that she had heard enough. “That would probably be a bad idea, yeah,” she croaked as she opened her eyes. “Although it would be kind of funny to see.” Both aliens, Tali sitting on the chair Shepard remembered her mother occupying and Liara standing behind her with a hand on her shoulder, stopped and stared. The Commander couldn’t help smiling. “Hey,” she raised her hand slightly. It shook, but at least she was glad it didn’t feel like stone anymore. And she could raise it, just a little. That was an improvement.

“Shepard,” Tali all but breathed and then lunged toward to hug her. “Keelah! You had us worried!” 

“Ye..yeah,” bursts of pain exploded across Shepard’s shoulders and she took a deep breath to keep from yelling. “Sorry about that. Um, could you not..?” 

Some of that pain must have leaked into her voice because Tali let go and sat up quickly. “Sorry! I’m so sorry Shepard, that was stupid I shouldn’t have..”

“Hey, it’s okay. Just…don’t do that again.” She winced a little. It had hurt, and she was painfully aware of how restrained Garrus and her mother must have been earlier. Pressure on her hand distracted her, and she looked up to find Liara squeezing her hand tightly. The asari was teary eyed and her voice was wavering when she spoke. 

“Oh, _Shepard,_ ” Liara sounded like she was about to burst into tears at any moment. Tali had almost sounded that way too, but Shepard had selfishly been glad that her helmet hid it from view. She wasn’t sure how much comfort she could give the asari right now. 

“Sorry, I worried you,” she repeated, hoping it would do something. Liara just shook her head. “So, uh, I heard that I owe you thanks for finding me?” 

Liara made a small noise, but managed to smile through her tears. “Only because you did a good job of marking your location. It still took more time than I liked to convince anyone that you might be in the beam that returned from the Crucible. The general consensus was that I was operating under ‘false hope’. Vega and I actually headed out on our own before someone realized they should send backup. I think they were surprised when we found you at all. When we did, even James…” She choked and looked away. 

“Wasn’t sure I was alive?” Shepard managed to finish for her. “I get it Liara. I was in bad shape.” 

“But you’re not now!” Tali said hurriedly, glancing quickly between the two of them. “You’re doing much better than you were even when I first saw you! And you can talk!” The quarian’s voice rose slightly at the end of the sentence. “You kept falling asleep before I could say anything to you. I was beginning to think I was really that boring!” 

Shepard could tell Tali was trying to joke, but there was a waver in her friend’s voice that made her feel guilty. “Sorry,” she said, not really certain what she was apologizing for. 

“Would you stop saying that!” Liara said sternly. “No one is blaming you at all!”

“If anything,” Tali added, “I think there are people that owe an apology, and thanks, to you. We wouldn’t have won without you around.”

Liara was nodding in agreement to that, so Shepard just sighed. “I would dispute that, but I don’t have the energy to argue with both of you at the moment. So you win for now.” 

“Of course we do,” Tali said with a finality that somehow seemed to end the conversation. “Don’t worry about anything but getting _better_ Shepard.” 

“Please?” Liara said softly, “for all of us.” She did manage a smile then. “We can look after ourselves you know. While you’ve been sleeping we’ve been keeping things together.”

“We even started to make some progress on bringing back the Relays,” the quarian said quickly. “Well, kind of, sort of progress. At least we have an idea of what we have to do now.” 

“That’s good,” Shepard said. “I would hate to win the war, and have everyone stuck here.” In the back of her mind she wondered how the turians and quarians were dealing with being stuck on a levo planet. She thought about asking, but she didn’t know how to phrase it. At least Garrus had looked all right. Not like he was _starving_ or anything.

“That would make things complicated,” A new voice agreed as the door to the room opened. “Can you imagine having a krogan as a roommate? He would never manage to clean up after himself.” Garrus shook his head as he walked over to her bed. “Although there is one good thing about this. I doubt anyone will ever complain about the Relay 314 incident again. Nothing like having a race of machines try to kill you to erase past wrongs and promote camaraderie.” 

Shepard couldn’t help smiling as he reached the end of her bed and just paused, studying her. “Garrus,” she said carefully, “hey.” 

“Shepard,” he said, the weight of her name sounding heavy on his tongue before he moved over to the other side of the bed. “Hey.” Shepard thought she saw Liara hiding a smile, but decided she didn’t care at the moment. Garrus did flick a glance toward the asari, smiling a little on his own. “Do I want to know what the three of you were talking about? Or is it some deep feminine mystery that I really don’t want to know?” He reached down and rested his hand atop her free one, but didn’t make another move besides that. She was slightly disappointed he didn’t do anything else, but she didn’t expect him too. One thing she had learned early on about Garrus Vakarian was that he wasn’t demonstrative in public. Endlessly affectionate in private, yes, but when there were other people around he kept himself to smaller gestures. Or at least he did when he wasn’t nearly drunk off his ass.

The stiff way he was standing clearly said that he wasn’t entirely happy with the whole ‘small gestures’ thing at the moment. She wasn’t either, but trying to bring it up would only embarrass him and that was the last thing she wanted. He had been waiting faithfully by her side, even when they weren’t sure she would wake up. It made her ache to think of it and she was beyond grateful he had been there fore her. She might not understand why he was holding back right now, when she was awake when Liara and Tali were two of their oldest friends, but that didn’t matter. She would just be glad he was there.

So instead she spoke. “Nothing that exciting,” she said. “Just the state of the galaxy, how I worry too much, the usual.” 

“Please don’t tell me you’ve been awake for a couple of _days_ and you’re already trying to fuss over everyone else,” Garrus said automatically. “You’re wounded. Let other people actually do their jobs for once. Take a break from saving the galaxy.” He gave her a worried look. “Please?” 

“I’m beginning to think I don’t have much of a choice.” Shepard felt like she should have been protesting more, but the thought of actually doing it was exhausting. That, she hoped, would clear up soon. She didn’t like the thought of not even having enough energy to _argue_ with someone. 

“You don’t,” her collective asshole friends said at the same time. Even _Garrus_ joined in, and she made a note to do something about that later. He even gave her the turian equivalent of a teasing grin, then looked away before she actually glared at him. 

“Well, _thank_ you,” she grumbled back. Garrus’ eyes darted toward her, and he did give a turian smile, but it was a long moment before he looked away from the door. That was more than a bit unusual, especially considering what she thought he had been thinking. “So what’s got you so distracted?” She asked after a second. 

“What?” Jerked a little in surprises. “Ah, it’s nothing. Really,” he added seeing the look on her face. “I just…ran into someone earlier.” 

“Someone?” Tali said teasingly, “you mean your sister?” 

“Sister?” Liara said, Shepard echoing her.

“She’s here?” the Commander asked. Last she had heard Solana Vakarian had been with the other turian refugees. She was pretty damn sure that Garrus would have mentioned her taking part in that final battle.  
 _Then again_ , she thought as he just tensed up, _maybe not_. Her lover had a tendency to keep things to himself. If he had been worried, he would have kept it from her so _she_ wouldn’t worry too. He did that often, come to think of it. She made a mental note to bring that up to him later just as Tali started talking. 

“She is,” the quarian said. “I ran into her when I was coming to see you. She seemed nice.” 

“I need to stop the two of you from meeting again. I’m afraid you might actually get along,” Garrus said loftily. Shepard started to ask something, but he must have seen the question in her eyes because he gave a small head shake. “She wasn’t here for herself. I almost wish that she was given how her leg looked, but she was looking for me. Victus told her I kept coming here and she thought I was the one that needed medical attention.” He sounded annoyed, although whether it was because of Victus letting it slip or because Solana had dared to think he was hurt Shepard couldn’t tell. 

“Ah yes, how dare she worry about her brother,” she couldn’t help saying anyway. “I mean it’s not like you know, ended up with a rocket to the face before or anything. You’re always fine.” 

Tali giggled. 

“That’s not what I meant,” Garrus fidgeted a little, not sure what to do with his hands. “But if she was _here_ then it meant she was asking questions about what I was doing hanging around a hospital.” 

There was a subtle vibration in his subvocals that Shepard had gradually learned signified anxiousness in turians. 

“Does,” Liara said gently, “does your sister know about..?” She glanced pointedly at Shepard.

“No,” Garrus admitted, “Solana and I have had an…interesting relationship over the years. Bringing up the ‘dating-my-human-commander’ thing is going to take perfect timing.” 

“And here I thought you were an expert at the timing thing,” Shepard said, and tried to smile. This was…unexpected. Garrus’ family had always been a distant thing when they would discuss her finally meeting them. Having one of them suddenly right _here_ brought everything into almost frightening immediacy. “Weren’t you saving up the story about me and the fish tank for just this occasion?” She said, mostly to distract herself. 

Garrus just looked confused. “What?” 

“..I thought you _hated_ when people brought that up.” Tali said curiously. 

“Leeeet’s just forget I said anything,” she said quickly.

“Look, Shepard,” Garrus said, still fidgeting with this talons still. “Don’t feel like you have to push this if you don’t feel up for it. I’m not ashamed of what’s between us, but if you want to wait, we can..”

“Garrus,” she said patiently and reached up to place her hand over his. It still felt heavy, and there was a persistent ache with the movement, but at least she could do it now. “I want to meet your sister. You’ve been dealing with my family. It’s only fair I learn to deal with yours.” 

She could see the tension drain from him, and he held her hand gently. “If you’re sure then, yeah, sure I’ll figure something out.” His mandibles flared out in a turian version of a half-smile. “Just give it a bit. Get some strength back first, then we can..”

“Garrus,” she said slowly. “I don’t think I need to get strength back just to meet someone.” Yes, she wasn’t exactly at her best right now but it wasn’t like she was completely out of it. “I think I could deal with your sister.”

“Yeah, because a potentially messy interspecies meeting is such a _great_ idea when you can’t even sit up on your own. And that isn’t a challenge Shepard!”

Shepard chose to ignore his words, and Liara, and Tali. She tried to lever herself up on her elbows, but even getting them into position was a miniature battle all on it’s. There was a heaviness to her body, and the muscles everywhere, shoulders, back, arms, were quick to scream at her when she tried to force herself up. It was like straining against a krogan on her chest. Tali trying to push her down and going _stop it right now_ really wasn’t helping matters either. There was a distinct shriek from one of the machines that said they weren’t too happy about it either, but she was sure if she pushed just a _little_ harder she would be able to make it up. 

“Would the lot of you calm down.” The voice that rose above the chatter in the room was crisp and no-nonsense. Shepard spared a moment to glace at the nurse that had walked in – it wasn’t Miranda or Chakwas but one of the other nurses that worked here at night – and the distraction was too much for her body. Her strength gave out and she fell back onto her mattress with a slight yelp that had the nurse all but charging over.  
“I’m not even going to ask what all of you are doing here this late,” she said crisply as she moved Liara and Tali out of the way. “But I’m going to question your judgment on the matter. We have a patient that needs rest…”

“And is right _here!”_

“And we have all of you here, riling her up and over exiting her,” the nurse pretended she hadn’t heard Shepard, something that had clearly impressed the aliens in the room. “She’s never going to make progress if she doesn’t have a chance to rebuild her strength.” She leveled a glare at everyone around her. “Considering the time, I suggest you leave for now, before you make her any worse.”

“I’m _fine_ ,” Shepard started to protest. 

“No, you are not,” the nurse cut her off, “and you are not going to be for a good while, especially if you keep trying to move around before you’re ready. I was warned that you might make a habit of this, but I didn’t think it would start this soon!”  
Any other protests she had been going to make were stymied by the nurse looking around at the other people in the room. “I think it might be best for you to leave. It’s far too late to be bringing this kind of excitement in here.”

“What? No!” Tali’s protest was the loudest out of the flurry that followed that. “You can’t just..

“Yes I can,” the nurse said briskly, “I’m part of the team assigned to see her recovery, and right _now,_ she needs time to rest. She’ll still be here tomorrow, and might actually be in a better shape to _talk_ if you actually give her a few more times.” 

“I can talk just fine!” Shepard wasn’t surprised to find that ignored too. She was beginning to get very, very annoyed with that. She wasn’t used to people just pretending she was there. It was even more humiliating when she realized she wasn’t even in any shape to do anything about it.

There were a few more protests as the nurse started to usher Liara and Tali out of the room. Shepard kept a grip on Garrus’ hand and looked at him pleadingly. “You don’t have to leave,” she said. “If we can beat up a few Reapers then I’m pretty sure we can handle her.”

Garrus chuckled and gave her hand a squeeze. “Oh, probably. Might be a bit of a challenge though…and I’m beginning to think she’s right.”

“Hey!” 

“Just listen to me for a second?” he said and Shepard just gave him a stern look. “I’m serious here. I want you back on your feet as soon as possible. You know that. And maybe letting you lay around for a bit is the best way to do that. And you know that’s true,” he said when he saw her expression. “I could point out what _just_ happened, but you know, hey, I’m sure that had absolutely nothing to do with anything.”

“Smart-ass,” Shepard grumbled. 

“You know you like it,” Garrus said. “Just…rest for tonight Shepard.” There was such a worried look in his eyes that Shepard became concerned. Maybe he really was that concerned about her. The last thing she wanted was to put him through any more of that. 

“Only as long as you promise you’ll come back tomorrow?” She hated how weak and needy that made her sound. “If I wake up without anyone here I’ll just be bored out of my mind.” And being alone, in a hospital, was not something she wanted to go through. Childish as it was that thought made her almost…scared. 

“I’ll be here,” Garrus rumbled. “You don’t even need to ask.” The nurse started making impatient noises, and Garrus left slowly after that. Shepard stared after him, feeling absurdly vulnerable now that she was alone. 

Maybe she _should_ sleep some more. At least then tomorrow would come faster. 

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

It was raining again the next morning. Hannah Shepard pulled the hood on her Alliance issued coat up higher, both to keep out the water and because of the faint hope that no one would recognize her in it. There were more people than usual hovering around the hospital, and she wasn’t about to blame this one on the Primarch. Not when half of them were reporters clearly looking for a story. Part of it might have been the recently dropped news about the state of the Relays, but they wouldn’t be _here_ unless they were chasing a story that was just as interesting as that little announcement. Like say, Commander Shepard being alive and well. 

She managed to skip past most of them, grateful that she wasn’t nearly as well known as her daughter was. The hood, and the coat, made her look like just another solider on a trip to the hospital. She just had to hope they continued to think that until she was inside. She kept up a brisk walk as she shoved her way past a man with his camera, but he barely glanced at her before going back to arguing with an asari who was standing in the door. The woman was wearing a uniform herself, and Hannah noticed her glance over, note the coat, then turn back to arguing with the reporter. 

Maybe the hospital had started to bring in some more security. If that was the case, she was going to have a stiff word with whoever was in charge of it about just letting people walk in like that. It wasn’t like it would particularly hard for a determined person to steal a bit of Alliance gear after all. 

The coast looked clear when she actually entered the building itself. She scanned the area, searching for any signs of stray paparazzi, but none presented themselves. Hannah allowed herself to relax and pushed her hood back as she started towards her daughter’s room. She had very little time this morning for a visit before they tried to drag her into yet another useless meeting. Yelling at the ‘executive council’ had been entertaining in its own right but dealing with how displeased they were about not being able to drag her daughter into questioning right now had been draining. All she wanted to do was go check on Lil, then maybe find some nice wholesome paperwork to bore her out of her mind until..

“Admiral? Admiral Shepard?” Whoever it was had the bright earnest tone that Hannah had come to dread. She bit back a groan and kept walking briskly forward. The guards should stop most reporters, or at least cause enough fuss to get the paparazzi thrown out for causing a disturbance near the special wing. All she had to do was get there.  
“Admiral Shepard, I’m Alexandra Lawkins for the…” An almost impossibly blonde woman popped up right in front of her. Hannah had to take a step back from running her over, and barely noticed anything else the woman had said. 

“I already said I was through talking to you people,” she snapped biting back the first choice words that sprang to her mind because of the camera hovering over the blonde’s shoulder. “If you want information about the announcement, go speak to Alliance headquarters. You’re not going to get anything out of me that they wouldn’t say.” 

“I’m not here about that, Admiral,” the woman said brightly, “although it would be interesting to know why not only the Alliance, but the Council as a whole decided to put off informing everyone about the state of the Mass Relays…” 

There were really two levels of leadership now that everyone was trying to clean up after the Reaper War. One was race specific, like the Alliance leaders and the few politicians they had found trying to help humanity. The other was the multi-species council that met regularly to make sure there was some sort of order, that another war wasn’t about to start between them, that everyone was getting enough to eat….and to figure out how to get everyone else off Earth and home safely. No one involved with that had dared refer to it as _the_ Council yet, but reporters had been calling it that since day one. It made Hannah feel slightly uncomfortable, but she supposed she could see the need for the public to cling to a name that held some sort of familiarity and respect attached to it. It made them feel as if something was going to get done.  
That didn’t mean she had to like it though.

Her distaste must have been clear because the reporter started talking quickly. 

“Although my focus at this time, Admiral _Shepard_ is on something of a much more human scale. Care to comment on the rumors that your daughter is being held, alive and well, in this _very_ hospital?” The reporter looked at her eagerly. 

A shiver swept down her spine. This was exactly what she had been trying to avoid. “Is that it?” Hannah said, trying very hard to avoid showing any reaction at all. “Can’t you do anything more useful than reporting on gossip? In case you weren’t aware, most of Earth was destroyed. I’m sure the work crews would welcome an extra pair of hands, even if they don’t have any real strength to offer.”

The reporter bristled. “This isn’t just gossip Admiral! This about your own daughter, I thought that you, of all people, would understand why people are so set on searching for answers about her. She’s not just anyone, she’s Commander Shepard! Everyone knows that we owe her our lives. Knowing whether she lived or died could mean the difference in the morale for some very desperate people out there!”

“Then they’ll have to keep wondering,” Hannah snapped before pushing passed the reporter. “There’s a lot more they need to be focusing on. If I could survive with no news, so can they.” Normally she might have been a bit more sympathetic. A symbol or ideal held a lot of power for people. They were looking for hope, and throughout the war her daughter had given it them. Now, with the war over, they wanted that assurance they could still recover from all this. 

It was when that hope was linked to Lil, who was still too exhausted too move, Hannah felt she had to take issue with it. Every race, not just humans, seemed to forget that most heroes were only mortal. Her daughter had all but driven herself into the ground while they were fighting. Now it was time for the rest of the galaxy to let _this_ hero have a chance to rest. 

“Admiral!” the reporter protested, and hurried after her, staying at the older woman’s elbow. “You said ‘could wait’ does that mean you _have_ had news about your daughter? Are you going to visit her? If you could just give the word to our viewers then you would let half a galaxy find some relief in the fact that..”

Hannah turned to face her so abruptly the reporter cut off. As satisfying as decking the woman would have been, she had a feeling that Hackett wouldn’t be pleased about her causing a public relations nightmare. They’d already had to deal with something like that before, when her daughter had actually pulled that stunt. “Tell that half of the galaxy,” she managed to say instead, “that while they’re looking for their hero, I’m thinking about my _daughter._ If she’s as important as you claim she is, then try to honor her by putting the galaxy she worked so hard to save back together. Let _that_ be her legacy.” She turned and started walking away again. Circumstances might force her to deal with the press once in a while, but like _hell_ was she going to put up with their crap when she was trying to visit her sick daughter. 

The reporter’s silence only lasted a split second before she was babbling again. “Admiral Shepard, just what do you mean by…”

“If you don’t leave me alone, then I’ll call hospital security and have _them_ throw you out. I’ve heard they haven’t been very pleased about paparazzi bothering the patients lately. Imagine what an entertaining story _that_ would be.” Hannah sped up as much as she dared then, hoping that she wouldn’t start to limp, because then it would give the reporter something else to latch onto like a starving varren. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to keep civil if that happened. 

She managed to reach the checkpoint before the reporter could decide if it was worth risking. At least now she would be bothering someone else, if she decided the story was big enough to bother with. Hannah nodded to both the guards stationed there, who saluted her when she got close. One of them kept glancing back down the hallway that lead into the private area and fingering his gun.

“Good morning, ma’am,” the woman said sounding cheerful. “Was that Lawkins woman bothering you? I didn’t think she was getting _that_ desperate.” 

That snapped Hannah’s attention away from the fidgeting guard. “You know her?”

“Seen her around,” the woman shook her head, “she’s been talking to most of the hospital staff. One of the boys here earlier said she tried to get by but he chased her off. Apparently she wasn’t smart enough to just _leave_.” The last was punctuated by a glare Hannah swore she felt the heat of, even if it wasn’t aimed at her.

She glanced back over her shoulder to follow the look the guard was giving someone in the middle of the room. The reporter was trying to talk to one of the hospital personnel stocking supplies, and getting no response from the salarian. The Admiral turned around and shook her head. “She won’t need me to get her kicked out if she keeps that up,” she remarked, then glanced between the guards. “I trust I don’t have to remind you want your jobs are here?” 

“You mean keeping busy-bodies like that at a safe distance? Don’t worry, ma’am, she’s not slipping by.” It almost sounded like she _wanted_ the reporter to try getting by her. Hannah couldn’t help but smile a little at the thought. 

“Then I’ll leave things in your hands,” she said, only to pause when she realized that the other guard was still more interested in something behind him than her words. He responded with a ‘ma’am’ when his comrade did, but he clearly wasn’t paying attention to _why_ he was saying it.  
“Something the matter, soldier?” 

It took him a moment to realize he was addressing _him._ “N..nothing ma’am!” he snapped around to face forward and threw her a salute. “Keep an eye on the reporter, make sure no one gets by without authorization. I will do my duty, ma’am!” 

“Impressive,” Hannah said dryly, “but I will feel much more reassured if I knew why you’re eyes were wandering.”

“It won’t happen again ma’am!” he said quickly. Hannah just crossed her arms and gave him the sort of splintering look that she gave the rawest of recruits. She was impressed. He managed to hold out for a few seconds before cracking. “There was just…a krogan that came through here, ma’am.” He finished the sentence almost sheepishly. 

“Krogan?” She hadn’t even known there were any krogan in the area.

“One just went past us, ma’am,” the female guard clarified. “Big fella too. Thought Andrews here was going to faint when he showed up wanting to get through.” 

“ _Shut it_ ,” the guard hissed back, clearly trying to draw himself up straight as he glared at his companion. “I was just concerned because we were letting an armored krogan back among wounded personnel. I know we’re supposed to be allies and s..” he quickly cleared his throat, “know we’re supposed to be allies…but it’s a krogan.” 

“Uh huh,” Hannah said calmly, “and did he have clearance?” 

“Yes ma’am,” the female guard said quickly. “We wouldn’t have left him by if he didn’t.”

“And since I don’t hear gunfire, I think it’s safe to say that it’s _fine_ , soldier,” Hannah said firmly, carefully hiding her amusement. “I hope you were just a touch more diplomatic when you were actually dealing with our _allies._ ” She stressed the last word slightly. Besides, she had a shrewd idea who this one was, and was only surprised that he hadn't bothered to turn up sooner. She still might have been a bit more concerned, if she hadn’t trusted the other guards around her daughter. 

“He barely said anything actually,” the other guard said sounding almost cheerful. “He just kept staring like it was the first time he’d ever seen a krogan.”

Andrews sputtered something and Hannah chuckled, but decided not to press him further. “I’ll keep that in mind then, and I’ll keep an eye out on the way there. Andrews, you remember what I said about keeping your eyes front instead of worrying about your back.” 

“Yes ma’am,” he said firmly as she walked past him. When she was nearly through the gateway, the Admiral stopped. 

“It’s never a good idea to underestimate _anyone_ ,” she told the younger soldier as she glanced back at him. “You keep thinking that all krogan are unrestrained brutes and it _will_ come back to bite you in the ass someday.”

The guards down the hall didn’t seem at all affected by the presence of a krogan. Whether that was due to professionalism or because they were sure he wasn’t here to start trouble, she couldn’t be sure. They didn’t even give a warning, just returned her nod as she headed through. 

The guards in front of her daughter’s room, now they _did_ look a bit nervous. Then again, they did have a mountain in red armor just _watching_ them with an amused expression on his face. 

“Urdnot Wrex. I would wonder if you enjoy intimidating everyone, but I’m afraid that of what the answer to that would be,” Hannah remarked as she came up on his position. He snorted and turned his head slightly to look at her with one eye. 

“And just who are you?” he said gruffly. That was a question she had been expecting. Although she’d seen the krogan leader from a distance once or twice, most of what she knew about it him came from the various reports and second-hand stories. The most recent ones, straight from Hackett’s mouth, were how the krogan warlord had invited himself along to the meeting of the inter-species ‘Council’. Whether anyone had even wanted him there was a moot point. There was no one who was willing to risk a confrontation just to throw him out. 

She supposed the old joke about the eight-hundred pound gorilla applied to krogan as well. They both did whatever the hell they wanted. 

“Rear Admiral Hannah Shepard,” she said in answer to his question. “I’m surprised you even knew where to find my daughter.” 

There was a moment while Wrex looked her over again, then he returned to watching the guards. “Thought you smelled like Shepard’s clan. I’ve known where she was since you humans dragged her here. I just didn’t see the point in showing up to mope over her while she was sleeping. Figured I just had to wait until she woke up again.” He snorted. “Didn’t think anyone would be raising this much of a fuss when she did. I hate waiting,” he gave the guards an outright glare that, which just made them tense nervously. 

“All right,” she said calmly holding up her hands in a placating gesture, “I can understand that. But why exactly are you waiting out here anyway?” She glanced over at one of the guards for answers.

“Orders from Operative Lawson, Admiral,” one of them said quickly. “She’s doing an examination on the Commander to determine how much her health has improved. We’re under orders not to allow any disturbances until it’s completed.”

“Lawson?” It occurred to her, right after she spoke, that of course the woman would be here. She’d been checking up on Lil regularly. At any other time she wouldn’t even have been surprised. Given what she had learned in the last couple of days though, now she didn’t know what to feel. Lawson was the woman who had brought her daughter back to _life_. She was still trying to process that.

“Bah,” Wrex grumbled and pushed away from the wall to pace a little. “They’ve been saying that since I got here. I don’t like leaving her alone with someone who worked for Cerberus, no matter what Shepard said about her.”

“I’m not saying I don’t understand the sentiment, but Lawson has been treating Lil since she was brought here. She’s been watched, and she hasn’t given us any cause for alarm. If she really meant her harm she would have done something by now.”

There was a snort from the krogan leader. “Probably just buying her time and waiting until we let down our guard.”

“You’re being as suspicious as Vakarian was when he first showed up,” she noted, remembering how the turian had been acting. “Or maybe he was just annoyed at her trying to order him around. I thought he wasn’t going to listen for a while after that.” She did remember that both the krogan and Vakarian had served with her daughter. Maybe reminding him that he wasn’t the only one with a cause to worry would calm him down. Probably not, but it was worth a shot. She wasn’t even sure he knew about their relationship. 

“So Garrus was listening to his instincts for once,” the krogan leader said. “At least he’s learned that much. Think he would be happy about Shepard being in there alone with her?” He gestured toward the door to Lil’s room. The windows had been darkened for privacy making the room look far more ominous that it should have. 

“Probably not, but I think he’s learned to deal with it,” Hannah crossed her arms. “And Lawson is well aware of what will happen to her if she tries anything. Lil is my _daughter_ , remember. I wouldn’t let Lawson near her if I thought we couldn’t trust her.” 

Wrex snorted, but the windows cleared before their conversation could continue. Both turned to watch as the door clicked open, and Lawson exited, talking quietly to another doctor behind her. They stopped short when they realized who was waiting for them. The other doctor looked like wanted to bolt back into the room, but Lawson just gave them an unsurprised look. 

“I suppose I should have expected this,” she said crisply. “You can go in if you want. She’s awake for now, but I can’t tell you how long that will last.” Lawson moved out of the doorway, the other doctor following quickly after her. 

“If you’re as good as everyone says you are, why can’t you even tell us that?” Wrex’s voice was little more than a rumble. To her credit, Lawson didn’t seem the least bit ruffled by it and just gave him that same cool look. 

“Because this is the Commander we’re talking about, and we’re dealing with something that’s extremely hard to measure. You should know she’s raised unpredictability to an art form. I hesitate to try to pin down anything when it comes to her,” Miranda crossed her arms. “I would think your time would be better spent talking to her, not wasting time arguing with me.” 

Wrex growled something, but he didn’t bother to say anything more to that. He just started through the doorway. As he passed by Lawson, he did stop for the few seconds it took to turn, glare at her, and give another grumbling growl before continuing inside. After he was past Lawson almost seemed to relax a fraction. Apparently even her normal unflappable nature couldn’t stand up to a krogan that large. 

Hannah had been going to follow him, but there was too much nagging at her. Hearing what had happened to her daughter, that she had lost her only to have her brought back, had left the admiral with far, far too many questions. She hadn’t had a chance to seek Lawson out since she had heard the news, but now, with the former Cerberus agent right in front of her, she couldn’t pass up that chance. There was still a large part of her that wanted to just go after the krogan, but she knew herself well enough to realize that the questions would only continue to bug her unless she did something about them.

“Lawson,” she said out loud, and kept her position near the wall. “Can I have a word?” 

The younger woman gave her a long measured stare, then nodded curtly. “Of course,” she said, then turned to the other doctor. “Go, and make sure the reports we have are filed correctly. I want to make a proper comparison later.” 

“I’ll make sure all the data is available to you,” the man said, and gave a small nod to the admiral before he started walking down the hall. At a faster-than-necessary pace.

From inside the room she heard the deep boom of Wrex’s voice answered by her daughter’s, and felt a moment of impatience to be there with them. Willpower was something she had learned to rely on and had strengthened during her time with the military. She turned her attention to the woman who had crossed the few steps to her and tried to block out the voices.

“Is there something I can help you with Admiral?” Lawson asked. 

“How is she?” Hannah wasn’t even sure how to bring up the whole ‘did you bring my daughter back to life’ issue. Better to ease into things slowly while she figured that out. “I mean, really, not just what you’re putting in the reports I _know_ the brass is getting.” 

“Actually,” Lawson said, smiling a little. “She’s doing extremely well all things considered, and that is not just a platitude. _I_ didn’t even think she would be awake yet, but she’s already getting her energy back at a fairly impressive rate. Granted, I’m not saying she’ll be on the battlefield any time soon, but if her improvement continues like this, she’ll at least be out of the hospital faster than any of us thought possible.” 

Hannah let out a soft breath. “Good. I know the prognosis from every other doctor has been ‘good’ but I don’t trust half of them to be really honest with me,” she paused and gave the younger woman a searching look. “And most of them seem to have no idea why she’s recovering as fast as she is. They say it’s the implants she has, but I’ve lived long enough to know they’re not as sure about that as they would like to be.” You didn’t get up to any sort of rank in the Alliance without being able to tell when someone was bullshitting you. After a while you started to pick up the skill required to read between the lines on reports, to separate what they wanted you to hear from the reality of it. The doctors weren’t the first people Hannah had come across trying to seem like they knew more than they did.

“I’m hardly surprised,” Lawson answered, “the Commander’s implants are far more advanced than most in use today. It’s entirely new technology. Highly experimental if you want me to be totally honest about it. I very much doubt that any of them were in a position to even get a glimpse of it before.”

“And Cerberus was able to get its hands on technology like that?” Hannah leaned back against the wall behind her. She was sure that Lawson knew she was testing her, and the younger woman gave her a searching look before answering. 

“Yes. It’s not like Cerberus’ only interest was in copying technology. There was a large group of laboratories and research stations funded entirely by Cerberus.” Lawson tensed, “Of course, I can’t deny that some of the research was…perhaps less than ethical. It did however lead to great scientific leaps forward.”

“You’re lucky I’m not here to get into an argument about ethics,” Hannah shifted her weight slightly, trying to keep as much of it as possible off her bad leg. “Or talk about my opinion on Cerberus’ tactics. What I will be more than happy to talk about is the truth.” She glanced over at the guards by her daughter’s door and dropped her voice to little more than a whisper. “Are those implants really so advanced that the best doctors the Alliance can find don’t even _recognize_ them or do they not recognize them because they’re not the sort of thing that can be installed while the patient is still alive?” Granted ‘the best’ doctors were from the pool that had managed to survive the war and were near Earth, but the statement was enough for Miranda’s eyes to go wide and her body to stiffen.

After a moment Miranda glanced behind her. “…May we take this discussion somewhere more…private Admiral?” She managed to ask. 

“Of course.” Hannah had been expecting something of the sort, and would have suggested it herself if Lawson hadn’t. Somehow she had the feeling the galaxy wasn’t ready to accept the whole ‘brought back from the dead’ thing.

Miranda nodded, leading them a short way up the hallway, toward the blank wall at its end. When they reached it, Lawson double-checked to make sure they were out of earshot of the guards before turning back to the conversation. “I can’t say I wasn’t expecting you to find out, I just couldn’t say for sure when you would get a hold of that information. Did the Commander tell you?”

“Actually, Vakarian was the chattier one,” Hannah said, copying Lawson in keeping her voice down. She could feel a faint buzz of adrenaline under her skin and feel her heart beat slightly faster. “Although I did wait until I could talk to Lil too. I wasn’t about to believe this without her input on that. You have to admit the whole thing sounds more than a bit unbelievable.” 

“That’s understandable,” Miranda said. “Even I wasn't sure the Lazarus Project would be successful when it was first proposed to me. It seemed more like a prayer for a miracle than a real scientific process, but it went better than any of us could have ever hoped.” She took a breath. “And I suppose you have questions about it now?”

Lazarus. Somehow Hannah wasn’t surprised they had chosen that name. Cerberus had seemed to love being pretentious. She crossed her arms. “More than a few, yeah. There’s just some I’m not sure I _want_ answers too.” She studied the younger woman. “So you really did help bring my daughter back to life?” 

“I was in charge of the project yes,” Lawson admitted, looking a bit uncomfortable. “That’s one of the reasons I’m helping her now. Beyond the fact that I owe her for the help she’s given me, there really is no one else as qualified as I am.” 

It sounded more like a simple statement than any sort of bragging, and Hannah couldn’t deny the truth of it. Lawson had brought Lil back from the dead. There wasn’t really anything you could do to out do that. “I’ll take your word for it,” she said out loud. “I suppose you’ve answered the question of why no one ever found my daughter’s body. You needed it for your project.” There was the steady thunder of her heartbeat in her ears. This was calling back all the old buried memories of when they had told her that husband had been lost and there would be no body left to bury. Hearing the same thing about her own daughter had been one of the hardest moments of her life. Knowing that her daughter’s body hadn’t been lost, but had been carried off to be experimented off…that was a hard pill to swallow. Not that she could argue about the results, but it was not something she wanted to dwell on. How dare they think they had the right to do something like that? To just take Lil without any sort of thought for those who had missed her, that was something she didn’t think she could ever fully forgive.

“Yes, that was Cerberus,” Miranda answered. “We needed it if we were going to bring the Commander back to us, and it had to be her. The Illusive Man was very adamant that she be brought back, no matter the cost, no matter how impossible what he was asking us for seemed to be.”

“I…see,” Hannah didn’t know what to say to that. The only intel she had about the Illusive Man came from Alliance reports. Even that appeared to only have given a surface view of the man who had been responsible for nearly wiping out the galaxy. Maybe she didn’t want to know what he was thinking. But then again, this didn’t have anything to do with his decision when he was indoctrinated. At least she hoped that was the case. “Then let me ask _why_. Why my daughter? I’m not ungrateful, understand, but you brought her back from the _dead_. You don’t do that just to have a chat with someone.” She pinned Lawson with her gaze, but the younger woman just turned and looked back down the hall for a moment instead of answering. 

Hannah frowned, and turned to follow her gaze. Lawson might just have been looking towards Lil’s room, but the Admiral found herself distracted by the sight of Garrus coming down the hall. He was walking at a clip that could barely be called a walk, and was clearly restraining himself from breaking into a jog. When he reached the guards at the door he stopped and said something to them. They were too far away to hear the words, but he jerked his head around look over in her direction. There was a surprised flare to his mandible when he saw them, then he nodded, turned, said something else to the guards, and slipped inside the room. 

“…I wasn’t sure about the _why_ at first either,” Lawson said at last as they turned to face each other again. “I thought the Illusive Man was more than a little crazy when he first insisted we try the Lazarus Project. He was adamant that it be Shepard we bring back, not a robot, not a clone of her, but the real thing.” The younger woman kept talking, although she gestured down the hall. “I didn’t get it at first either, but despite the evil he did in the end, the Illusive Man did have a gift for seeing further than other people. He wanted whatever it was that the made the Commander a Spectre; let her defeat Saren. Whatever it was that made her great. A clone wouldn’t have that. You can clone memories or experiences. Only Shepard herself could ever understand what she’s been through. And, I see now, we needed her. You and I both know that we wouldn’t have gotten though this if she hadn’t been there, driving everyone forward. She has a gift for that, and I don’t think there’s anyone who could have replicated what she did.” Lawson looked her square in the eye for a moment.  
“I think, ultimately, the _why_ is because the galaxy needed Commander Shepard. We couldn’t have survived without her, even if none of us realized it at the time.” 

Hannah nodded slowly, trying to store all that information away. She knew her daughter was amazing, had known it for years. Of course, she was also her mother. That was kind of part of the whole deal. 

Then her daughter had gone out into the world, into the galaxy, and started changing it. Started doing things that even her mother couldn’t imagine her doing. Hannah was proud of her, and she made sure Lil never doubted that, but sometimes she couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with how much her own daughter meant to the rest of the galaxy now. 

They saw a hero, but she couldn’t help remembering the little girl who would bounce on the bed as she fought imaginary pirates. 

“I can’t say I like the thought of thanking the Illusive Man for anything,” the Admiral said, “but I suppose I have to be grateful to him for pushing this one thing. I have my daughter back.” She closed her eyes for a moment. She hadn’t anticipated how deep this would dig, or how confusing this would be. It felt like she should be mad. Part of her was, over what Cerberus had done to her daughter. Then the logical part of her would remember they had brought her back. 

“I understand this is probably very confusing,” Lawson said, somehow echoing her thoughts. “I would imagine that anyone would find something like this slightly unsettling.” 

“I believe you have a talent for understatement,” Hannah said flatly. “I have more answers I want from you, but right now I think it’s better if I let this sink in.” She didn’t want to walk away, not really, but her head was buzzing enough right now. She wanted a chance to sort through it all, to talk to Lil, and then try to make more sense of what had happened.

“Of course,” Lawson nodded. “I’ll be working here, at least for the time being. I’m sure you’ll be able to find me.”

“Oh, I will,” Hannah answered and straightened up. “But for now, I believe I’ll go see my daughter. I’ve nearly lost her twice now. I think I’ve earned some time with her now that we can actually talk.”

And finally talk without any big scary secrets in the way. It might not be remotely the same as it was when Lil was younger, but at the very least Hannah wanted to make sure that she was there for her daughter.


	6. Intercept 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shepard speaks with Kaidan and Vega, while her mother and Solana Vakarian deal with problems of their own.

“…So that’s how I ended up helping to clear rubble for a new landing area,” Vega waved his hand in a dismissive gesture as he finished his story. “No big deal.”

“Uh-huh,” Shepard said flatly and raised an eyebrow at him. “Vega, next time you try to prove the superiority of the Mako, maybe try doing something that doesn’t end with you trashing one.”

A smothered laugh, that was quickly turned into a cough, came from the wall where Kaidan was leaning. Shepard turned her best, stern, “Commander Look” on him but he didn’t even bother to try hiding the slight grin on his face. 

“Sorry, Commander,” he said, not sounding sorry _at all,_ “but listening to you give that advice? Even you have to admit it’s a bit… ironic, I guess.” 

“I,” she replied loftily, “was not that bad. No matter what you and Tali have to say on the subject.” Shepard couldn’t bring any venom into the words though, not now, with Kaidan looking at her normally instead of with the strange expression he had come in with splashed across his face. It had been such a mixture of hope and longing, and happiness that she had been slightly uncomfortable. Even though they’d cleared the air between them ages ago, you couldn’t erase history just like that. He’d been nothing but professional since he’d come back on board the Normandy, but that didn’t mean he didn’t care. 

“If you say so, Shepard,” her fellow biotic said innocently. She glared at him, but Kaidan just gave her a slight grin. 

James glanced at Kaidan, then grinned and looked back at Shepard. “You’re really that bad at it, Lola?” 

She attempted to cross her arms, but that caused a pain across her side that almost made her yelp. So instead she just shifted back, trying to get comfortable. Which was more difficult than she wanted it to be. “I passed the test for handling the Mako, Vega. I can drive it just fine. You try staying in a straight line when you’re trying to avoid enemy fire.”

Neither of the men seemed to notice her _words_ though, and both had zeroed in on her with a look of worry. “You alright, Shepard?” Kaidan asked quickly. “Do you need anything? I could call the nurse if you need..”

“No, Kaidan, I’m fine,” she said evenly, trying not to snap. It wasn’t his fault. Wasn’t anyone’s fault really…or maybe it was _everyone’s_ fault. She was _already_ getting tired of people asking her if she was alright, or if she needed anything. It had only been a few _days_. She was going to end up murdering someone before she was out if they kept this up. 

“You sure, Commander?” that was James. She couldn’t blame him as much, not after seeing Liara’s reaction, hearing how bad she had been when they’d first dragged her off the field and knowing he’d been there for that. 

Even that couldn’t keep all of the bite out of her voice. “Yes,” she stressed. “I’m fine, for recovering from being chewed over by a Reaper. Just a bit tired, and bored when I’m not sleeping or being poked at, and getting very tired of doctors.” She paused to consider that. “Doctors and hospital food actually. I could really do with a break from both.” 

Vega still had a slightly worried look on his face, but he tried to force a smile. “Least the hospital food is probably better than half the rations they're feeding us.” 

“What?” She would have jerked up right, but Lil knew better than to try that by now. It might gall her that she was still weak enough that she couldn’t even _sit up_ without help, but she was grudgingly willing to admit to her limits. Not that she was happy about it.  
Or about what was apparently going on outside the walls. “Are they really rationing supplies already?” She had been worried that might happen since the Reapers had destroyed so much of the planet, and they had _everyone_ here now. It couldn’t be easy making sure that everyone was getting even their basic needs met.

“No,” Kaidan said quickly, cutting her off . “It’s not that bad, not yet anyway.” He was looking at her in concern, eyebrows draw together.

“It’s just…military rations you know?” Vega added quickly. “You get tired of the same thing all the time. It’s not like it’s been that long since you kicked the Reaper’s asses. We’re still doing alright. Even, you know, the turians.” 

“We got lucky. The quarians have their liveships here,” Kaidan added, “without them things would have gotten a lot…messier.” 

Shepard didn’t even want to think about what would have happened if the quarians hadn’t brought the liveships to the front-lines. Getting the Relays up then wouldn’t have just have been ‘one of the most important things to do’. It would have been _the_ most important thing to do. Otherwise they would have had another disaster on their hands. “Yeah, messier,” she said, trying not to think about slow deaths and the person she loved in the same sentence, “that’s one way of putting it.” She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to clear that image from her head. By the time she opened them again, both men were staring at her in concern.

“Shepard,” Kaidan started to say, but she waved her hand as much as she was able. 

“I’m _fine,_ ” she all but snapped. A week sitting here and she was feeling better each day. Maybe she couldn’t outrun a toddler yet, but her mind wasn’t suffering. When she wasn’t resting, she was _thinking_ which was fine when it was someone who wanted to talk to her. When she was alone though? Or when it was one of the doctors who kept insisting she had to ‘concentrate on recovering’? She ended up coming up with questions no one seemed to want to answer. Which just made her worry that they were hiding something or that things were so bad they were trying to keep her from worrying. “Just getting tired of being out of the loop when it comes to what’s going on. Just because I happen to be in the hospital doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten that we’re dealing with the end of the war. The whole thing with the doctors and the scientists and being poked at I could deal with if I knew what the _fuck_ was going on with the rest of the galaxy. They don’t tell me anything in here.”

Kaidan looked startled but Vega just frowned. “Nothing? I thought Scars would be keeping you updated.” He glanced around as if expecting the turian to spring out at any moment. “Where is he anyway? Thought he would be keeping you company.” 

She stared at him incredulously, about to ask if he really though that Garrus had nothing better to do than hang around her bedside, then she remembered that her lover had been there the last couple of times Vega had come to visit. The first time she barely remembered, still tired enough from her recovery that she had hardly said a few words to Vega about ‘yes, I’m fine, and thanks for pulling me out’. Garrus had done most of the talking then, which had mostly been a rambling echo of her words that neither of them had the heart to cut off. It was amazing how long he could go on before his words ran out. 

The second time, just a couple of days ago, was when Vega had showed up with Cortez in tow. Neither of them had said anything, but she thought from the stiff way he had been moving that the shuttle pilot had taken more injuries in the crash than he wanted to admit to. Seeing him actually alive and walking around had relieved her enough that she hadn’t pressed him about it. 

“Garrus comes by as much as he can,” she said out loud, “but he’s still one of the Primarch’s most trusted advisors. I’m not going to ask him to abandon everything just to sit with me.” As lonely as it got sometimes, as oppressive as it felt if she was awake and there was no one here to distract her, she was not going to make the person that she loved choose between her and his duty to his people. He wouldn’t ever force her to make that choice, and she wasn’t going to put pressure like that on him either. She could survive a few hours alone. It wasn’t like he would be away that long anyway. She could wait. 

“You know,” Kaidan said, voice level, “If you asked him I bet he would be here.” 

Shepard sighed, “That’s why I’m not going to ask,” she said firmly, and then managed a smile. “Besides, having him here all the time would drive both of us crazy. He likes to think he can replace every nurse on duty when he’s here.” Well, maybe he wasn’t that bad, at least not yet. He just bugged Miranda for updates whenever he could. “And, “ she added, “if he wasn’t helping the Primarch, then he wouldn’t be able to tell me what’s going on outside. Without that, I would be even more out of the loop,” She shook her head as much as she could. “Miranda won’t even let me have an omni-tool. Says it would be too much of a ‘distraction’.” 

“She’s probably trying to spare you having to listen to the newscasts repeating the same five or six stories about you over and over again,” Kaidan cut in. He grinned, like it was some private joke when she groaned. “Come on, Shepard. You had to know that once the Alliance let it slip you’d managed to survive, everyone would be all over it. They’re scrounging up every bit of footage they can, and yanking in anyone they think even _talked_ with you at one point.”

“They keep trying to get us to do interviews,” Vega added, smiling himself, “said they want to talk to the people that were closest to you. Allers even jumped in, saying it would be better if she did it, since she knows you. She’s hot too..”

“Don’t you dare Vega,” Shepard glared at the Lieutenant, but it was only halfhearted. She had known on some level that the news wouldn’t be able to keep its hands off a ‘Shepard is alive’ story. It just hadn’t occurred to her that they would bother bugging her crew. Which was stupid of her. Of course they would go after anyone who was on the Normandy. She trusted them to keep their mouths shut about anything important, but she didn’t like the thought of them being harassed. “I know Lawson said they had paparazzi camped out around the hospital. Mom mentioned having to wade though them to get here during her last visit. They give you guys a hard time too?” 

To her surprise, Kaidan shook his head. “Miranda managed to find us a back way in, and I’m honestly grateful for that. I didn’t feel like fighting through a horde of reporters just for you Shepard.” 

“So…Reapers are fine, but reporters aren’t? Good to know.” She commented dryly, and raised an eyebrow at the Major. 

Vega was the one that chuckled though. “'Course. Reporters are a lot more vicious. And you can’t shoot them if they start mobbing you.”

“You can still punch them,” Shepard grinned a little. “It does a _very_ good job of making them think twice. Even though to gets you yelled at in the end. Apparently Alliance soldiers decking reporters does not send a good message to the galaxy.” 

“Uh, I think that only works for you, Shepard,” Kaidan sounded as if he wasn’t sure whether to laugh or not. “And I doubt that would stop them now. They’d probably just consider it an honor to be punched by the savior of the galaxy. Or they would make it into the biggest news story of the night. I’m honestly not sure which would be worse.”

“…Good job Kaidan, you actually gave me a good reason why I’m locked up here. I really don’t want to deal with either of those right now. Even if the punching part would be fun,” Shepard tried to turn it into a joke, but internally she was squirming. She had realized, on some level, that the entire galaxy would be grateful to her now that the Reapers were gone. It just hadn’t sunk in until now, and she wasn’t sure how to deal with it. All she had done was follow orders, and do what had to be done for the safety of everyone left in the galaxy. It wasn’t like she had done it alone either. She couldn’t have succeeded without help from every single race and person that had stood up against the Reapers. By now she knew that it was going to be useless to give those arguments to the public though. Just because she didn’t want to be held up as some sort of savior, didn’t mean they would actually listen. “Still wish I had an omnitool though. Then I could actually keep _track_ of my adoring public without having to deal with them all.”

“Not sure you really want that, Lola,” Vega grinned, “got a good reason too. You really want to deal with all the fan-mail you’ve gotten? All by yourself?”

Suddenly the vision of her probably over-flowing inbox rose up in her minds-eye and she couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread. “And this time I can’t ask Traynor or EDI to go through it before-hand, can I?” She shook her head, “give me another husk to shoot at instead. At least I can get rid of _them_ with bullets.”

That got a laugh out of both of them. “Aww come on, you can probably still ask EDI for help,” Vega shrugged, “she’d probably be happy too. Not like there’s much to do until we can get her a body.”

“Which means I still need an omni-tool in order to contact her,” Shepard pointed out as she settled back. “I think that’s more an argument _for_ having one, rather than keeping me out of the loop, Vega.” 

“Umm…yeah, that backfired,” Vega rubbed the back of his head, “but I’m pretty sure Lawson is only trying to help. I mean, it wouldn’t be easy to relax if you knew everything that was going on outside.”

“Why?” Shepard snapped, trying to sit up as much as she could as Kaidan groaned and Vega swore to himself. “What _is_ going on out there?”

*~*~*~*~*

Hannah Shepard took a deep breath, and then struggled not cough as the thick scent of superheated metal, smoke, and ash coated her throat. You would think she would be used to this sort of stench after all the clean-up they’d been doing, but a fresh crash always brought out the worst of it. 

“Maybe you should have your mask on, Admiral,” the engineer standing next to her said nervously, his voice muffled by the filter he had over his own mouth. “We don’t know what the ship was carrying.”

“It’s fine,” she said automatically. “After everything else I’ve seen in this war, I doubt a little smoke is going to kill me.” Not that she thought there was actually any danger here. They wouldn’t even be this close if there was even the slightest chance that anything truly toxic had been on that ship. They would have quarantined the area until there were enough resources to deal with the problem long before she had arrived. 

Which given the mess the planet was in, could have been a damned long time. Maybe she should be glad for that small mercy. Even if it felt _very_ small in the face of everything else. She turned her attention to the massive scar the wreckage had carved into the ground as it came down. It had taken out part of a road when it had slammed into the earth, after striking several taller buildings when it had come shrieking out of the sky.

“Damage report?” she said, turning to the Major who was hovering anxiously over her shoulder. He was an older man, all grey hair and muscles, who looked as if he wasn’t sure how to react to a Rear Admiral showing up in person without any warning. Maybe he thought there was something more to this crash that he hadn’t been informed of. She hasn’t the heart to tell him this was her alternative to attending yet _another_ meeting of the Alliance leaders. After the media frenzy that had erupted after the short message stating that Commander Shepard was alive and recovering, she had reached her bullshit quota for the week. A large fiery object coming racing out of the heavens to land somewhere in the city? That had actually been a very welcome relief, something she wasn’t exactly proud of. It still hadn’t stopped her from very quickly volunteering to take care of it personally and splitting before Hackett could find a way to stop her. It was better this way. At least now she wouldn’t have to dredge up enough care to be nice to assholes she would rather put through a wall.

“Still under assessment ma’am,” the Major responded. She thought he’d introduced himself as Ricks. Not a name she was familiar with but apparently he was good enough to have landed this command. “I’ve got units tracking its flight path back as we speak. We should have a report soon.”

“Good.” She locker her hands behind her back and turned to examine the wreckage once again. “Casualties?”

“..Unsure, ma’am,” Ricks admitted. “Given the condition we think the ship was in when it was coming down, we’ve assumed there were no survivors on-board when it entered the atmosphere. This part of the city was heavily damaged during the Reaper attack, and we aren’t sure if there’s anyone that would have chosen to come back. I have the men searching as they go back, but without any real data on who might be out there there’s a limit to what we can do.” He sounded guilty. She could understand that. It was easy enough to imagine someone, _anyone_ out there trapped under the rubble brought down by the ship, unconscious with no help coming. Or worse, trapped, hurt, but conscious. Awake enough to realize no help was coming, or crying out for help, only to find no one there to answer them. After the horrors they had all seen, it made you want to throw everything you had at helping that _one_ person.

They all knew that couldn’t happen. Even if she gave the order to search, someone would override her. There were too many things that need to get done, too little manpower to let soldiers look for someone that _might_ be there. Other places needed them more, places where there _would_ be deaths if they didn’t have support. 

“Have your men do a sweep as they’re coming back,” Hannah said at last, “if it’s a building, have them check it’s condition first. I don’t want them wandering in somewhere that’s about to collapse and end up being trapped themselves.” That was the best she could do at the moment, and both she and the officer knew that. He threw her a salute and a _yes ma’am_ before turning to relay those orders. 

The engineer gave a muffled triumphant noise, and she turned to look at him as he let out a sight of relief. “Air’s clear,” he said as he peeled off his mask. “And it looks like the drive core wasn’t breached.”

“I suppose we can thank god for that then,” Hannah took a few steps closer towards the wreckage. She didn’t want to think of the mess something like that would have caused. “Do we have a clue what brought it down?”

“According to all the scans so far? Nothing more menacing than gravity.” 

That really wasn’t as comforting as the man obviously meant it to be. Good that no new enemies had suddenly decided to take up sabotage, but she was willing to bet that this wouldn’t be the last they saw of this sort of crash. “Don’t we have ships up there watching for things like this? An advanced warning would have been nice.” At least she had assumed there was. She couldn’t imagine everyone just sitting there waiting for things up there to come down. 

“We do,” the engineer said, “but there’s only so many ships up there. And honestly, Admiral, there’s a hell of a lot of debris left over after the battle. There’s only so much we can predict with conditions like that.” 

Her throat was telling her that it was not happy about where she was. Her hip wasn’t standing around on uneven ground either, if it came to that. She just hoped no one noticed how carefully she was standing. “So we’re looking at more like this coming down?”

“If I was to take a guess, I would have to say yes,” the engineer admitted. “I’m not in the loop about what sort of system they have in play up there, but given the amount of wreckage that was left over after everything was said and done? I’m guessing they're going to be focusing on keeping what’s going to come down away from populated areas. And even that’s not going to be perfect.” He nodded towards the new bit of destruction as he finished his sentence. “Case in point.”

“Well that’s _great_ news,” Hannah sighed and rubbed her temples. “I don’t suppose getting more ships assigned to clean up would help? I’m not really fond of the idea of something like this coming down on my head.” 

“I’m sorry, Admiral, I can’t answer that,” the engineer shook his head, “It’s just not my area of expertise. You’d be better off asking someone else.”

“All right,” she said in reply, “I suppose I’m going to have to bring it up to someone. We need to take care of it before it starts to become a real problem.” Thinking about unregistered space junk coming down on the head of civilians made her feel cold all over. Even if it meant she had to brave another meeting just to tell people that having all that debris orbiting right over their heads was a **bad idea**. Maybe it would even be better if she brought it up when it wasn’t just Alliance listening to her. Getting all the other races to see, that as long as they were stuck on Earth they were in as much danger as the rest of them, might be enough to make them lend a few ships to get things cleaned up. Right now though, she had other things to worry about.  
“In the meantime, let’s just deal with what’s in front of us,” she said as she scanned the wreckage. “Do we have any idea what ship this was?” 

“It’s got a turian signature,” the engineer answered, confirming her suspicions. The lines of the craft hadn’t looked Alliance and she was willing to bet, if they had been allowed nearer the craft, the badly damaged writing on the hull would have resolved itself into alien script. “Haven’t been able to find its name yet, Admiral. You’re going to have to go to the turians for that.”

She took a last look over the wreckage and shook her head. “We’re going to have to let them know about their ship anyway. I’ll send a message letting them know, and asking them if they need any help.”

“Uh, not that I’m an expert on turians or anything, ma’am, but I’m not sure they’re gonna need any help.” 

She turned and followed the engineer’s line of sight. Off, nearly on the other side of the crater, was a small group of turians. Seeing them here was hardly a surprise. It wasn’t like the crash was a _secret_ after all. They might even have realized whose it was long before they had. 

“Still polite to let them know what we found,” she said out loud, “The Reapers might be gone, but that doesn’t mean we should stop helping each other. We have to if we’re going to have any hope of rebuilding.”

“Yes ma’am,” the engineer said quickly and went back to his scans. 

Hannah studied him for a moment, then smiled. “Besides,” she said, “helping an ally will make the politicians happy. Or at least as happy as they can possibly be.” She would have added more but she happened to glance behind her then. There were more people gathered at a distance than there had been when she’d first touched down. Even from where she was, the distant glint of light off of camera lenses was visible. She was really, really beginning to loath that sight.  
“And apparently it will help us look good in front of the media,” she grit out. 

The young engineer looked up from his omnitool, and Hannah was near enough to see his eyes go wide behind his visor when he saw the storm. “Where the hell they all come from?” 

“From under a rock probably,” Hannah growled under her breath, and ignored the look the engineer gave her when he realized a superior might have been making a joke. She glanced around and motioned over the first soldier she saw. 

“Ma’am?” her target said nervously. She was beginning to get tired of that. At least she had orders this time.

“Make sure the civilians stay back. I want them as far away as you can get them, you got that?” She glanced over at the crash site ignorantly. 

“Yes ma’am!” the young solider saluted. “Should I push them back further than they are now?” Most of the gawkers had halted a good bit away, clearly wary of coming closer to a crash that might be dangerous. It was the few, more adventurous, souls that were obviously not concerned at all about the bits of space debris, that she found the most worrying. 

“See that wall right there?” she asked, pointing toward the remains of what might have been a small restaurant. “Get them level with that. All of them. I don’t care what excuse the give, they aren’t to get any nearer than that line. Get help if you have to but keep them there.” As he saluted and ran off, Hannah wondered what he was thinking. Probably assumed that she had done it for the safety of the idiots who had come to see her. Which was true too. She just had ulterior motives behind it. 

She didn’t want to take even the slightest chance that one of the reporters would make it though the lines to come harass her. Not that they were supposed to be anywhere near a crash like this, but she didn’t trust any of them farther than she could thrown them. Especially now, when she was sure half of them weren’t even here for the crash. They were here just to annoy _her_. 

If it had been any other time she would have laughed at her own ego for assuming that. Despite what she had accomplished, she was still only one person in a very large galaxy. Or at least she had been before the announcement that Commander Shepard was alive had hit the extranet. Suddenly, the fact that she was Commander Shepard’s mother made her very important. She had thought that the reporters were annoying before they had known anything. That was nothing compared to the firestorm that had been unleashed once the news became widespread. Now instead of bothering people to know if her daughter was alive, suddenly everyone and their damned dog wanted to know everything _about_ her. What was she like, how had she grown up, what sort of trouble she had gotten into as a child. Nothing was safe. Things like privacy and decency seemed to take a backseat to their lust for gossip. 

Hannah tried not to make a face and disturb the soldiers around her when she thought of what her inbox must look like right now. When she had woken up the morning after the Alliance announcement, and seen the state it was in, she had quickly foisted the duty of figuring out what was important and what wasn’t on her poor assistant. At least the girl seemed to take the whole thing in good humor. The latest source of amusement around their little quarter of headquarters was reading aloud the more…questionable interview requests in a dramatic voice. Hannah had a feeling that she wasn’t really supposed to know about that, but she had let it slide. 

The crunch of rock under a boot announced the Major’s return. Hannah turned to meet him. “Do we have word back from any of the teams yet?” 

The Major nodded. “Yes ma’am. They haven’t found anything so far, and I hope to God that we end up with nothing. Hopefully this area is abandoned enough that searching just becomes another waste of time.” 

Hannah tried to ignore the painful twinge that came when she thought about an area this size in a megacity being abandoned. Not just ignored or run down, but outright abandoned. It said a lot about the state they were in and how much had been lost. “I think I’ll agree with that, Major,” she said quietly, and pointedly looked away from the increasingly loud gathering. “And not just because of the publicity either.”

The Major had apparently been through the circus before, since his only reaction to the reporters was slight grunt. “They got here fast this time.”

“That they did,” Hannah agreed. “Not that I’m happy about that. Media relations aren’t exactly my specialty.” 

“Not mine either,” the Major admitted, “I’ll put in a call, see if we can get someone down here that _does_ know how to talk to them. Better that then having someone say something they shouldn’t. They’ll pounce all over anything they think is ‘secret’.” 

“I know that all to well,” Hannah raised a hand to shade her eyes from sun that was just trying to come though the clouds. Not all the way of course, there was still so much debris up there that clear skies were just a fool's dream at this point. This was just a lightening of the clouds that made you _hope_ they might fade away. “I have someone keeping them from the crash site for now. Hopefully that will be enough.”

“Hopefully,” the major echoed, his tone clearly doubtful.

Hannah ducked her head slightly so he wouldn’t see her half-grin. “Then I take it you have things in hand from here on, Major?” 

“Of course, ma’am,” he said without hesitation, but didn’t bother to hide the curious look he was giving her. 

“Then I’m going to go check on our allies over there,” she said, nodding toward the turian group. “Maybe they’ll know something that will make the clean up go faster, or at least free up a few more of our men.” 

“Very well, ma’am,” he said looking dubious, “do you need an escort or transport? If you wait until the patrol gets back we can send….” Hannah cut him off with an upraised hand. 

“It’s fine, Major,” she said, and dropped her hand to the sidearm she never went without. “I doubt there’s anything between here and there that _this_ can’t take care of. It’s not that much of walk, and I am _not_ that badly wounded. You’ll even be able to see me for most of the way.” At the still unsure expression on his face, she continued, “and if anyone else tries to give you crap for letting me go over there on my own, then you can tell them that I ordered you to stay behind and continue operations here.” She paused and gave him a pointed look. “Unless you want me to actually _give_ that order.” 

“No need ma’am,” he admitted with a sigh. “But, if you’ll excuse me for saying this, I’m more afraid of what your daughter will do to me if I let anything happen to you on my watch than anything the rest of the Alliance can do to me.” 

That was the last thing that Hannah had been expecting to hear, and it startled a laugh out of her. A slightly strained laugh, but a laugh all the same. The Major look startled by it. “Believe me, if anything does happen I’m the one that she’ll be yelling at. I thinks she would enjoy the chance to be the one berating _me_ for being careless for once,” she said. 

“If you say so, ma’am,” he didn’t sound convinced. Maybe he’d heard far too many of the inflated rumors about Lil that were flying around. Hannah didn’t feel like sticking around to convince him how outlandish most of them were. The sooner she could get farther away from the cameras the better. 

“Just carry on, Major. I’ll be fine,” she said, with a slight smile, before she turned and headed off around the end of the crater. Within a few yards she was almost wishing she had either brought her cane or had stuck around long enough to get some sort of transport. The ground was highly uneven, rocky, and tended to shift whenever she put her foot down. The vague ache in her hip had exploded into something she knew she would be feeling for the next couple of days. She had been injured enough to know that she hadn’t actually hurt herself again, but maybe she had overestimated how recovered she really was. 

She would just have to take care that she didn’t limp, fall, or otherwise show that she was perfectly ready to just sit down and rest. Aside from her little speech to the Major, she didn’t want to deal with the media storm that would ensue if anyone caught her stumbling on camera. She might be able to blame some of it on the uneven terrain, but she was willing to bet her pay for the next year that some reporter, somewhere, would find out about her injury. That was not the sort of attention she wanted to put up with. Not when she actually had things to do. 

So she focused on moving forward one step at a time. It wasn’t like she had to rush. As long as she paid careful attention to where she set her feet, then eventually she would get around to the other side. Hopefully the turians wouldn’t think she was that crazy for taking so long. You never could tell what they really thought of humans. 

Turians. The thought suddenly struck her that here she was, Commander Shepard’s mother, walking over alone to speak with the turian delegation. She wasn’t stupid. After finding out about her daughter and Vakarian she had been paying attention to what the media was saying about the crew of the Normandy. Oh, they were spreading rumors about the two of them, but apparently they had been more discreet than she had thought. There were no confirmed reports about the two of them being together. No pictures that could be taken as anything more than normal, friendly, interaction between comrades. Which was good. Granted, her going over to speak with the delegation made perfect sense, but she wouldn’t put it past someone to jump on it as ‘proof’. Or maybe not. Maybe she was just over thinking things and no one had even started to make a connection yet. She hoped that was the case. Personal feelings on the matter aside, the two did seem serious about each other. She wasn’t about to let the shit-storm of outrage drag their relationship out into the open until they were ready for it. Which, she felt, would be after her daughter could get out of bed. Maybe she could figure out a way to distract the paparazzi for a bit. Tell them about her own teenage transgression of taking the family car and running away for three days maybe. Let them scramble around trying to confirm that for a bit. Hopefully they would find it juicer bait than the idea that Commander Shepard was in fact dating her turian Gunnery Officer. At least for a couple of days.

A glint of light on something far too bright for the landscape snapped her attention to her surroundings. There, floating not twenty feet from her was something that she had been hoping to avoid for the foreseeable future. She felt her stomach knot in annoyance. This was the last thing she needed. 

“You aren’t supposed to be here,” she snapped, knowing full well there had to be someone nearby to hear it. As the reporter controlling the camera popped up from behind the crumbled remains of a blockade she wondered how in the hell he had managed to sneak past the soldiers. Circled around maybe. He certainly looked like he was fit enough to go climbing over piles of rubble. 

“According to the soldier out there, yeah,” the reporter said, “but my sources say there’s no danger at the moment. It makes me wonder why you’d bother to set up such a wide perimeter.”

“So making sure a crash site is secure is now considered suspicious,” Hannah tried to keep her voice even. She did not want to be doing this. If her hip wasn’t so sore she would have just kept walking and let either the Major or the turians deal with this asshole. As it was, her hip was far to happy to have this moment of not moving for her to be comfortable just walking away. Besides, the bastard would probably just follow her anyway and he might notice something. “And I’m wondering about those sources you mentioned. We haven’t even given any official announcements about the crash. How the _hell_ did you get in contact with _anyone_ who could tell you if it’s safe for not?” That was something she was going to have to bring up with the Major and anyone else the Alliance saw fit to place in charge of this crash site. They had someone there right now that was willing to deal in information he had no right sharing. Security concerns might not be at the same level they were during the war, but that didn’t mean they were absent entirely. They couldn’t afford to have an obvious leak existing.

“Come on, I couldn’t reveal a source like that!” The reporter grinned. He had the sort of young-ish blonde look that some people would probably find charming. Hannah just gave him a glare, and that grin wavered for a moment. “And besides, this isn’t really about the crash anyway. I’ve been wanting to speak with you.”

Hannah immediately shut out whatever other word she was going to say, and pulled up her omnitool. “Major, we have an intruder out here. One of the civilians managed to slip past the lines. He’s not a threat, but you should get someone up here to escort him off the premises as soon as…”

“Wait!” Abruptly the man was almost in her face. Hannah fought her instincts to take a step back. She had never liked people getting into her personal space without permission. “You don’t know what I’m asking yet. All I’m trying to do is..”

“You want an interview,” Hannah said flatly. “You want me to talk about my daughter. I’ve already said that’s one thing I’m not going to do. I’m not going to throw her life out on display for someone’s entertainment. You want to know more about her? Go ask someone else.” She brushed by him and set out again. Her hips hurt worse. She couldn’t tell if it was because the ground was getting more unstable, or because she was so tense that it was affecting her most vulnerable areas.

“Look, I know that you have reasons to distrust reporters, Admiral Shepard,” the guy pleaded as he jogged to keep up with her, camera whirring merrily along behind him. It galled her how easily he was able to keep up with her. She couldn’t tell if he was really just that athletic, or if her hip was really slowing her down that much. “But,” the reporter continued, “you have to know how big of an impact your daughter had on the galaxy. How much of a difference she made in the life of every single living being out there! There’s no way she’s going to be able to avoid the media spotlight forever, no matter what she wants. Someone will get to her eventually. Even if she doesn’t say anything personally, then someone is going to talk.”

“That a threat?” she said as she stopped, then turned to face him. The reporter took a step back at the glare she sent up, and raised his hands. 

“No, no, it’s just a fact, and you have to know that, Admiral Shepard.” He dropped his hands slowly. “Eventually, there’s going to be someone who doesn’t care about her or what she’s been though. They’ll only care about their career, and they’ll find the one person willing to spill about something that the Commander wants to stay buried. But since that’s the only story the public has, they’ll latch onto it and it will never go away.” 

“Right. And I suppose you don’t care about your career and you’re only here out of the kindness of your heart.” Hannah crossed her arms. “Try again, kid. I’ve been fed more believable bullshit by recruits. If that’s you’re idea of ‘persuasion’ then I can’t even pretend to be surprised that you’re this desperate.” She thought she saw a couple of marines picking their way over to where they were standing. Good. Just a few minutes more and he wouldn’t be bothering her anymore. Maybe stopping here had been good, if only because it let them catch up faster. 

“I’m not saying I’m here totally for magnanimous purposes,” the reporter said hurriedly, “but at least I’m here because I respect what Commander Shepard has done. That’s why I took the trouble to track you down Admiral. You’re her mother! If anyone knows the real her then it has to be you!” he smiled, as if this was some huge, amazing thought. As if she hadn’t heard or read the same reasoning countless times lately. “All I’m asking is for a few minutes of your time. Just a little bit so I can have a glimpse of what Commander Shepard was like before she joined the marines, before she became an N7 or a Spectre. Just a few stories before she was a legend, so people have something to connect to.” He gave her that charming smile again. “So, how about it? It won’t take long, I promise!” As if she had already agreed to whatever it was he had planned. God _damn_ was she getting tired of his. 

“No,” she said and uncrossed her arms. “I don’t care what you’re trying to do here. I already said I wasn’t going to give an interview, and I’m going to stick with that. Lil deserves better than me babbling to reporters behind her back, and _as her mother_ I intend to respect her wishes by staying away from you. I think her past behavior makes her own opinion on the matter clear.” She took a step back from him then, and let herself enjoy the absolutely dumbfounded look on his face.

“No?” he repeated, as if he wasn’t sure he heard her correctly. “But you can’t just turn away like that! I’m doing this for Commander Shepard, don’t you see that..”

“You’re doing this for yourself,” Hannah said flatly, “because if you can go back with even a few words from me, you’ll get a boost to your career and I imagine it would make your bosses _very_ happy. Even with the planet lying in ruins around you, and countless dead, you’re still looking out for yourself.” Her hands clenched and she didn’t even try to stop it. “I already told one of your friends this the other day, but apparently you didn’t get the message. If you really care that much about my daughter then start putting your energy into finding ways to rebuild. Not stalking me, hoping I’ll let some juicy bit of intel drop. Now, I suggest you get lost before the soldiers coming toward us arrive. I doubt they’ll be as nice as I am right now.” 

The reporter had taken a step back as she spoke, and his eyes flickered towards the approaching marines. “I’m trying to help!” he protested. “Maybe I wasn’t being completely honest before, but you know that I’m telling the truth when it comes to what’s going to happen. You and your daughter aren’t going to be able to escape the media attention. She’s a public figure, and she has been one since the Skyllian Blitz. Now she’s larger than life, and no one is going to listen to you when you tell them to back off.” 

“Then they’ll just have to listen to her when she tells them the exact same thing,” the Admiral gave him a _look_ . One that had stopped much more hardened men in their tracks many times before. “Like you said, I’m one of the people that knows my Lil the best. You aren’t going to get any more for her if she can help it. And even if the Alliance does decide to push her to do an interview, then that’s her prerogative not mine.” She started walking again after that. The marines were close enough now. Let them drag this asshole off. 

“Please, Admiral Shepard you have to do this!” He said, all charm gone and sounding much more desperate, “If you care about your daughter at all then you have to..”

She came to a dead stop, heat simmering though her veins, and turned around slowly to glare at him. “I don’t think you want to finish that sentence. You do not get to tell me what caring about my daughter means.”

“I’m just trying to point out that you’re not really protecting her by ignoring all this,” the reporter said, talking fast, one eye on the approaching marines, “that, someone might just make it a priority to go looking if you aren’t careful. Given the Commander’s reputation it will probably be easy to find some source that would be willing to speak to me about the things even the Council doesn’t want us to kno..”

The gunshot cut off his words, making him swear throw himself to the ground. After a few seconds of silence he raised his head, and looked around wildly. Hannah waited until he noticed the smoking remains of his hovercam near his head, and then pointedly met his eye before putting her gun away. She knew that someone was going to come at her for loss of control. Someone of her rank was supposed to serve as an example. That would just have to be something that she dealt with when the time came. At the moment she couldn’t bring herself to regret it at all. 

The reporter looked at her with a stunned expression, mouth opening and closing a few times before he got a word out. “You didn’t…”

“I suggest,” she said, “that you remember one thing. You can bother me all you like but do _not_ threaten my daughter like that in front of me. Ever.” 

The reporter started to scramble to his feet, only to abruptly freeze at the sound of bootsteps near them. 

”Ma’am? What’s going on here?”

Hannah turned around, not remotely surprised to see that the two marines that had been sent over had their weapons draw. She hoped her vidcam murder hadn’t startled anyone else. The last thing she wanted was to cause a panic “You can stand down, soldier,” she said calmly. “It was just a minor disagreement with this gentleman here,” she nodded toward the reporter who was staring at her in disbelief. “You can take him away now, and make sure he doesn’t come back. I do not want to see his face anywhere near the crash site or other Alliance operations. Is that clear?” 

“Uh, yes, ma’am,” one of the soldiers said, as his partner went to haul the protesting reporter to his feet. “What should we do with him?”

“Ask your commanding officer,” she said, happy this was one thing she could pass along, “I’m sure he’ll have some suggestions. I’ll leave the rest up to you.”

As she started to walk away she heard one of the soldiers clear his throat awkwardly. “Where are you going, ma’am?”

“Back to what I was doing. Which is something that’s actually important,” she said as she glanced back at him. She tried to keep her voice even, even though her hip was throbbing again, and this time she was pretty damn sure that stress had something to do with it. She wasn’t about to lose face by just going back either. Behind her she could hear the reporter yelling something, but she very pointedly tuned his words out in favor of making sure her footing stayed even and she didn’t wobble. 

It was only when she was almost to the turian delegation that she realized a sudden lost of control like she had exhibited might not be looked upon favorable. Damn it. She was going to have to pull out some sort of fancy speech to excuse that, wasn’t she? Ah well, even doing that out here was far, far preferable to having to sit through several other people doing the same thing at the meeting going on right now.

And she wouldn’t have to listen to Hackett complaining at her about it until that meeting got out either. 

~*~*~*~

Solana Vakarian knew her people. ‘Military efficiency’ was more than a phrase for turians, it was a way of life. She had seen that first-hand growing up in the house of a C-sec officer who had worshiped that ideal. 

Of course, even that wasn’t enough to make her completely immune to the awe of actually witnessing that way of life in action. Her current position, leaning against the wall near the main door into the building, wasn’t even the best place to see the improvements her people had made but it was still damn impressive. Once this had been the abandoned shell of a human company. Exactly which one she couldn’t even guess, since any signs of the previous occupants had been carefully scrubbed and replaced with Hierarchy symbols. It was becoming a true turian embassy now. You could hardly tell it had been in the center of war at some point. 

Of course, Solana had to admit, that even though it was impressive that wasn’t what she was here for. Normally she would have been with what was left of her unit, helping with clean-up. At least that was what a few friends of hers, that had managed to get through, had said was going on and at least _that_ would have been something to do. Instead her ‘light duties’ were driving her crazy. When she had been ship-side sorting through casualty lists, at least she had felt like she was getting something done, as grim a duty as it had been. Here, she was just hanging around until she was ready to be in active service again…and trying to track down a brother that really didn’t want to deal with her. 

She shifted her position a little to keep the weight off her still-healing leg, and glanced over the news reports that were scrolling across her omni-tool without any real interest. Maybe ‘didn’t want to deal with her’ was a little harsh when it came to Garrus. He was busy being a big-shot in the Hierarchy now, something that made their father incredibly proud, and it wasn’t like he had been ignoring her entirely. He had made time to talk with her, but that had mostly been about how she had gotten off Palaven and how she had been holding up. Any questions about himself and what he was doing tended to be deflected with some sort of comment. 

Not that it was anything new. When he first came back home, after two years, he’d been doing it too but here it was even worse than it had been back on Palaven. At least then he’d eventually come clean about the Reapers, and everything that had entailed. This time he didn’t seem to _want_ to talk about it. Even messages sent to his omnitool weren’t getting any concrete answers. Which was why she was here, looking to see if she could figure out exactly what was going on with him.

“Just what are you hiding, Garrus,” she muttered to herself under her breath as she went back to looking through news reports. Fortunately, after the Alliance came clean about Commander Shepard being alive and kicking, there was no shortage of stories about her, and Solana was pretty damn sure that the legendary Commander was behind her brother’s strange behavior. Granted she didn’t have any proof, but since even Admiral Hannah Shepard had refused to clarify the relationship between her daughter and Garrus? Solana felt there had to be something more there than the usual subordinate and Commander relationship going on there. 

She just didn’t want to start accusing without something more solid than feelings. Which was why she was here, hanging around, waiting for Garrus. This time she wasn’t just going to let herself be brushed off. Besides, she had a piece of information that she wanted to deliver herself. She wanted to see his reaction personally when he got it, and not just the carefully worded message she would get if she shot him the info over omnitool. 

Getting to him though, that had proven to be more of a challenge than she had thought possible. She eyed one of the guards who was keeping watch near a stairway. When he caught her gaze for a moment, he gave her a stern look and grumbled something with subharmonics that she could barely understand from here. It was less than complimentary. 

Her mandible flicked into something of a grin, and she pushed away from the wall. The casual way she intended to saunter over to him was more than a little ruined by how carefully she had to handle her injured leg, but she supposed it was the thought that counted. 

“No,” the solider greeted her when she got within range, “I already told you that you can’t go beyond this point.” Which was about what she had expected. “I don’t care who you’re related too. Unless you have clearance I’m not letting you up!” 

She’d been planning on him refusing. Not that she really expected him to break protocol and let her pass, but you tended to learn more from people when they were at least slightly annoyed with you. Well, learn more from a certain type of person anyway, and she was pretty damn sure the soldier fell very firmly into that category. “At least tell me when my brother will be out of his meeting?” She said, although she knew that a guard like this probably wouldn’t even know the answer. “He’s not answering his omnitool pings, and I have something that I need to tell him.”

“I,” the guard growled, annoyance clear in his subvocals, “don’t care. Whatever it is you have to tell him can't possibly be as important as a meeting with the Primarch. Leave him a message on his omnitool like any normal person would, and stop bothering me with it.” 

Solana let her mandibles flicker out in a pleased way. “So he’s with the Primarch?” she asked, and had the satisfaction of seeing the guard look stricken for a moment before muttering what sounded like a curse under his breath. “Care to tell me what’s so important they have to be locked up for hours?” She could think of several things, but she wasn’t sure how near the mark any of them were going to be. Better to see if she could narrow it down. 

“I have no idea,” the guard finally snapped, “and it doesn’t matter to you anyway. Whatever they’re discussing is beyond us, so I suggest you shut up and wait quietly. Or, just go find something else to do. Like actually helping out for once.” 

Solana came close to snapping something back. The pittance of work she did do here was useful...when she was allowed to do it. Unfortunately being on the list of those that were recovering wounded meant she was kicked off to rest far sooner than she liked. She was also pretty sure that the newly minted respect that the name ‘Vakarian’ now carried had something to do with how carefully they were handling her. They weren’t supposed to be doing that but she wouldn’t put it past the officer in charge. Which probably made her look a little bit lazy to soldiers like this. Not that it gave him a license to make snap judgments about her, but she wasn’t going to say anything about it out loud. You didn’t lose your tempter when trying for an interrogation. 

“Fine,” she did say, stepping away and giving a vague sort of wave. “Just tell my brother I was looking for him.” She had some thinking to do about this. Let the guard think he had ‘won’ this battle. 

“Not in my job description, ma’am,” he said icily as she walked away. She could still hear him snarling something in subvocals to his companion, but she shut it out. Instead she focused on what the next step was going to be. She didn’t begrudge Garrus having to spend so much of his time on duties related to his new responsibility. If he had been a little more honest with her, she wouldn’t even be here. He should remember that when he tried to avoid something, it only made her more determined to find out what he was hiding. 

Solana called up the omnitool display she had been looking at earlier. Rumors, theory, and no proof. She was going to have to get a little more creative if she wanted to find out what Garrus was really doing, and she was going to have to do it fast. If she was right, then she could see why her brother hadn’t bothered to tell anyone in the family yet. Or at least she understood why he hadn’t wanted to talk with _Father_ about it yet. She was just insulted that he hadn’t trusted her enough to tell her the truth. 

As she flicked open another news report about the crew of the Normandy and settled in the corner to reread it for any clues that she was _right_ there was a sudden stir in the room. She looked up so see several heavily armed guards come in, scanning the area with practiced ease before one of them went up to start a low voiced conversation with a guard that had been standing duty when she came in. Normally she would have tried to get closer but any curiosity about what they had been talking about was wiped away by the two other people that entered the room right after them. 

She stiffened and threw a salute as the Primarch entered the room, but fell out of the stance a half-beat before everyone else when she saw Garrus with him. Quietly she started making her way over to them. They had stopped near the doorway, and we’re softly talking with each other. Now that could prove interesting.

It wasn’t like she was _trying_ to eavesdrop either. She just didn’t want to interrupt Garrus’ conversation, especially when it was with the Primarch.

“….just because it’s one of ours doesn’t mean you have to go personally. We have plenty of officers in the area that could take care of it.” The Primarch sounded semi-annoyed but this subvocals held more than a hint of exasperation. She knew that tone very well. Everyone who had ever had to deal with her brother in one of his more stubborn moods sounded like that after a while. 

“I’m not getting anything done here,” Garrus said, “you and I both know that. There are a dozen people here that can talk the talk better than me, and that’s what we need right now. And it was Admiral Shepard who was at the site. I know her. It’s better for me to get out there and meet her personally than to trust that it might be some hotshot rookie who thinks he doesn’t need to listen to a human.”

That was…interesting. If there was something a human Admiral was involved in, it had to be big. Especially when they had sent someone like Admiral _Shepard_ to deal with it. Unless they were just trying to deflect attention away from what the name ‘Shepard’ meant now days, although she couldn’t think why the would want to do that. 

“Ah,” the Primarch said. His expression didn’t change at all, but in anyone else she would have called the sub vocal tone _teasing_. This was the Primarch though, and she hadn’t thought her brother was close enough to him that he would indulge in friendly _mocking._ “I was wondering if that had something to do with it. Do you really think that running out into a crash site will impress her?”

The term crash site caught her interest. Solana was almost more interested in that than she was in the fact that her brother was interested in impressing Admiral Shepard. That fell right in line with her theory. Time to see if she could get any more interesting tidbits personally. She approached, and gave a slight subvocal hum. 

Garrus, of course, recognized it. She’d been using it to get his attention since they were kids. The Primarch might have looked over at her curiously, but Garrus had already turned to face her. 

“Sol?” he said, mandibles dropping in surprise for a few seconds. “What are you doing here? I didn’t think you were fit enough for duty to be reassigned!”

“I’m not,” she said, amused at the confusion in his subvocals. She didn’t even try to hide it. “I came all the way here, because a certain brother of mine hasn’t been bothering to check his omnitool messages.” 

“What?” Garrus glanced down at his arm in reflex before he looked back up at her, mandibles flexing into a frown. “Uh, sorry if I’ve missed anything important. I’ve been running around like crazy. There’s just so much to do and..” he trailed off and gave her a more piercing looking. “and you wouldn’t be here just because you were annoyed that I wasn’t picking up. You wouldn’t go through all this trouble if you didn’t have some ulterior motive behind it.”

“So, I’m not allowed to just be concerned about my big brother?” Solana said as innocently as she could. 

Garrus gave a disbelieving click at that. “Not this time, Sol. You already tracked me down at the hospital once. You know I’m doing fine. Now, spill. What brings you all the way out here?” 

“Would you believe boredom?” she said after a moment. That wasn’t quite a lie in a way. If she wasn’t in a cast then she would probably be so busy herself that she wouldn’t have a moment to give a crap about her brother’s relationships. 

“Not,” Garrus said, “coming from you. At least not right now.” He shook his head. “What are you snooping around for, Sol?”

There was a chuckle from the Primarch before Solana could answer that. “Family troubles, Vakarian?” he said, sounding amused again. It was a bit surprising to her, but the tone in his subvoals was unmistakable. Sol wondered just how close her brother and the Primarch were.

Garrus still had the grace to look at least a little uncomfortable. “Ah, sorry. Victus, this is my sister Solana.” 

“Sir,” she threw salute automatically as he gave her a nod. “I’m sorry for the interruption, but there was something that I felt my brother should hear from me.”

“From you?” Garrus was frowning now, “what’s going on? Did something happen?” He sounded worried now, and at any other time she would have felt a tiny twinge of guilt over that. Just not now, not when he should have already known what she was talking about. 

“Nothing serious,” she replied, locking her hands behind her back, “but I figured you wouldn’t have checked your messages from dad yet. He’s going to be planet-side in a little less than a week, Garrus. I know how much you were looking forward to that.” Sol knew that her father and brother had always had somewhat of a rocky relationship, but the last time she’d mentioned the obvious, that their father would want to see Garrus face-to-face, had brought out a reaction that she hadn’t anticipated. From the look on his face this time, her brother’s reaction hadn’t been an anomaly. 

His mandibles flared out, his eyes went wide for just a moment, and he swallowed before answering. “He’s going to be here? That soon? I thought that..”

“I told you that he was gong to come as soon as he could,” Solana shot back, “I’m actually surprised it took him this long to get down here. You know his background makes him more useful ground-side than up in a ship right now! If people hadn’t been using…personal connections to get him to stay, he would have already been here. And if you had actually said more than two words to him in your messages, you would probably already be aware of that.”

“Ah,” Garrus shifted his weight slightly, looking more like an abashed recruit than one of the foremost advisors in the Hierarchy for a moment. “I’ve been…busy,” he repeated, as if saying it again would somehow make her believe it more. 

It was the Primarch that spoke up then, “If I had know your father was that efficient, I would have asked for his assistance sooner. Why didn’t you tell me about him, Vakarian? Afraid?” There was nothing but gentle teasing in his subvocals, and Solana again wondered sort of relationship the two of them had. 

“ _Not now,_ Victus,” Garrus hissed back, his subvocals sounding in something that was something a hair less than ‘shut up’. Anyone else would have been looking at a severe reprimand for the informality, but the Primarch just chuckled. 

That alone was interesting. It was one thing for an advisor to be friendly with the Primarch. It was an entirely other thing for them to be friends. That left a differing complexion on things. She would have to think more about that later. For now though, “He does have a point , Garrus,” she flared a grin at her brother. “I thought you and Father were finally starting to get along before the shit hit the fan. Now you’re a huge war hero, one of the highest placed advisors in the Hierarchy…and you don’t even want to talk to him. I have no idea why you’re being so weird about it, unless this is some strange way of being embarrassed that he’s proud of you for once.”

“It isn’t that,” Garrus sighed, and reached to rub his forehead. 

“Then what’s going on?” She crossed her arms. “You’ve been acting weird. I’m waiting.”

Garrus just gave her that annoyed sort of look he always used to get when she was teasing and starting to push it too far. Those had usually ended in their parents pulling them apart when they were younger, although they’d grown out of it after Garrus had entered the military academy. Instead, their sparring had turned more verbal, although she was pretty damn sure that even her brother would wait until they were alone to actually call her out on it.

“Vakarian,” the Primarch cut in again. “I’m not trying to intrude in a family squabble, but it does seem like it would be easier to just to tell her. I doubt it will end up being as bad as you seem to think it will be.”

“Squabble, we aren’t even..” Garrus choked out. Clearly he hadn’t expected that sort of attack.

Solana was more than a little surprised herself, although if the Primarch was getting involved something clearly was up. “So, there is something going on. You’re way too easy to read sometimes.” She said, and watched as Garrus looked as if he was going to argue for a moment, then his shoulders slumped slightly.

“Look, you’re probably right about this. Both of you are. I just..need a moment. I’ll tell you everything Sol,” Garrus looked directly at her, even though he was still fidgeting nervously with his talons. “Promise. Before Dad gets here at least. I’ll need you on this. I just have to…get somewhere right now. Go see Shep…Admiral Shepard,” he finished quickly and started to edge past her.

“Running away, Vakarian?” 

Garrus stopped long enough to glare back at the Primarch. “Not running,” he said, “just getting breathing space. It’s not like this is going to be easy.”

“Sounds like running to me,” Solana couldn’t help commenting.

Her brother gave her an offended look. “I don’t run,” he insisted, then he was gone. 

After watching his retreating back for a moment, she turned back to the Primarch. She opened her mouth to say something but he just shook his head.

“I’m not going to say anything,” he said. “Stepping into that battlefield would be more trouble than it's worth.”

“So, you do know something,” Solana said, and grinned as the Primarch smirked in reply. Well, at least that was confirmation. Before she could ask him if it had anything to do with Commander Shepard, an agitated aide came running up. She let herself be pushed aside. Annoying her brother was one thing. Getting in the way of the Primarch doing his duties? That was another thing entirely.

His group moved outside and boarded a transport very quickly after that, making sure she couldn’t follow up on even vague suspicions. She stepped outside the building pondering her next move for a moment before calling up the messages on her omnitool.

Normally she wouldn’t count rumors as solid evidence, but they might just give her another line of questioning to use with him. Besides, Jaenex was still complaining he had nothing to do. Let him help her on this.

_Jae – it’s Sol. I need you to do something for me. You’re the family gossip – and don’t pretend to be outraged about it. You know it’s true. I also know you’ve been keeping track of anything to do with my brother since the Saren case. Care to tell me what the extranet sites are saying about him and Commander Shepard?_

_And no, I’m not going to tell you what’s going on, although you’ve probably got your own theories about that. Just keep them to yourself for now, all right? I’ll update you later, promise._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for how late this is! For some reason the bit at the beginning with Shepard took forever for me to write. I had a lot of fun with Hannah's part though. Enjoy. And special thanks to my beta OinkythePiggy!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to get up. First of all, thanks to my excellent beta OinkythePiggy. I actually had this finished in August, but I was fussing over it for a long time. Then I waited forever to send it to my beta, and finally I ended up getting sidetracked and not posting it for much longer than I meant too. So sorry about that, my bad. 
> 
> Anyway, this is a chapter is kind of slow, but it's setting up for some fun stuff next chapter and I had fun writing some parts of it. Hope you enjoy.

Garrus took a deep breath, or at least as deep a breath as he could manage, crammed into the back of a transport with a crowd of other turian soldiers. Not that he noticed the cramped conditions much. His mind was still far too busy reeling from the implications of what Solana had just told him. He hadn’t handled that situation very well at _all_ . As much as he protested he wasn’t running away, both she and Victus had been right. Disappearing, and racing off to supervise a crash site, really wasn’t actually _dealing_ with the problem of what he was going to say to his father. It was more like moving it to the back of his mind by convincing himself that he had more important things to be doing at the moment. 

Not that it was really working right now, since he kept coming back to that, even though the rattling of the ground transport should have been enough to shake all thoughts from his head. It certainly seemed like the other soldiers were experiencing something similar to that. Turian transports weren’t exactly built for _comfort_ and all good little soldiers learned that you just had to deal with it, and not complain, even when your ass was about to shake apart. For once in his life he would have been _happy_ to put up with a ride like that, if only so he could forget what it was he was supposed to be worrying about for a little while. Unfortunately, for him, this stretch of road had apparently been cleared enough that the ride was only mildly uncomfortable and not teeth-rattling bad. 

Or maybe he was just used to Shepard’s driving. 

“Spirits,” he muttered to himself under his breath. Shepard. He was going to have to explain this to her eventually and he couldn’t imagine how you were supposed to bring that up. ‘Hey, sweetie, my xenophobic father is coming down soon! He might try to kick me out of the family for dating a human. Thought you ought to know. How was your day? Still playing with the doctors?’ He reached up and rubbed his forehead. That sounded bad even in his head. He couldn’t imagine how he was _actually_ going to tell her. 

“Advisor?” One of the soldiers that had been assigned as a guard detail for him when he went into less stable areas, despite his protests that there was nothing out there he couldn’t handle himself, was leaning forward and giving him a look. “Is something the matter?” 

“It’s nothing,” he said quickly and dropped his hand. “Just thinking about where we’re headed.” Which was about as much truth as he was ever going to give to _anyone_. The solider nodded slowly and leaned back in his seat. Garrus was left alone with his thoughts for the rest of the ride. 

It was a distinct relief when the vehicle finally ground to a halt and everyone stood. The back hatch fell down to let in the distinct burning smell of a recent crash along with a slight breeze. 

“Someone go find the officer in charge of the scene,” Garrus said as he exited the vehicle. One of the other soldiers saluted him and ran off. Behind him, one of his bodyguards coughed at the taste of ash in the air. Garrus walked over to the crater around the crash site. There was already a team bringing equipment down into the crash itself, although he couldn’t imagine they would find much that was useful. Maybe they could pull something off the ship’s computers if they had survived reentry but everything else looked too mangled to be salvaged. 

As he was shaking his head over it the solider returned with the officer in charge. She was a tough looking lieutenant. One he didn’t remember ever meeting before.

“Advisor,” she said with a nod when she reached him. “I’m Lieutenant Dainiteus. I’ve been placed in charge of this area.”

“Lieutenant,” he said by way of greeting then motioned towards the crash site. “Any information on what’s going on down there?” 

She glanced down towards where her team was currently carrying a box down into the crater. “The crashed ship has been confirmed as being the _Relentless_. We lost communication with her during the battles around the Crucible. We haven’t received any communication from her since then and, because there were no signs of life support when a scout ship made a flyby, she was left in orbit until we could send a salvage team up to her.”

“I see that worked out wonderfully for everyone involved,” Garrus sighed, wondering how many more derelict ships were up there. He had probably seen the numbers somewhere, he was sure. Another entry in the endless amounts of lists that the war had generated. He had just been far more focused on things that could be done for those still living that he couldn’t remember it off the top of his head. “So I assume you’re trying to get what data you have off the computers?” 

“Yes sir,” the lieutenant said and gestured towards the ship. “We’re going to see if we can locate personnel records first. With how spotty the communications, and access to archives, have been that will probably be the easiest way to confirm casualties.” 

It sounded cold and hard when you said it that way but Garrus was well aware the lieutenant was speaking the truth. His people might be fanatics about organization, and would have assignment lists stowed somewhere, but looking up the crew members of a ship that had been brought down was probably considered low priority. So he just nodded. “Anything useful so far?” 

“Not a lot,” the lieutenant admitted, “things are pretty fried down there. The techs said they might have something within the next few hours but that’s as far as we’ve gotten. I sent a team down to see if there’s anything else salvageable down there. Not that I have a lot of hope, sir, but I think we’ll need all the supplies we can find before everything gets repaired.”

The unspoken ‘if the Relays get repaired’ seemed to hover in the air. It was a worry that Garrus was sure every non-human on the planet shared. “Good idea,” he said out loud, deciding not to hurt her pride by offering meaningless platitudes. “And I heard the Alliance was the first group that actually found the crash site?” 

“Yes sir,” the lieutenant nodded, “apparently they were already here when our people first arrived.”

“I guess a fiery ball of doom would be a little worrisome for _anyone_ ,” he couldn’t help commenting, “Any trouble with them?” Not that he thought there would be, especially with what he had heard, but it never hurt to check. 

“None at all, sir,” was the prompt response. “They even sent a representative over.” The lieutenant looked over at small group of other turians standing at the edge of the crater. Garrus wasn’t remotely surprised to see the blue of an Alliance uniform there, talking with one of the soldiers. “…She’s a rear-admiral sir,” the lieutenant said, sounding slightly off in her subvocals. “She’s related to Shepard. I’m not sure why the humans would send someone like that to a _crash_ site. There’s nothing here that’s important to them.”

That was one of the things that Garrus himself had been wondering ever since he’d seen the politely worded official notification asking if they would need any assistance in the matter. Of course the Hierarchy would turn the offer down, but the reports failed spectacularly at clarifying why in the hell a rear-admiral would be doing something like nosing around a crash site. Granted, he had no room to talk when it came to high-ranking military personnel being involved in frivolous things, but that was _him_. He didn’t think Admiral Shepard was that sort of person. 

Then again, this was the woman who had given birth to his Commander Lilliana Shepard. Maybe he shouldn’t be that surprised.

“They’re probably just being cautious,” he said out loud. “Although that is why _I’m_ here. I have the rank and the experience to deal with someone like that. Not that I expect any trouble but better to be prepared.” There, that sounded good. Maybe when someone who had overheard his little chat with Sol and the Primarch started gossiping, the Lieutenant would remember this instead of whatever massive rumors were bound to come out of that. Oh, that would be so _fun_ to deal with. Not to mention how much teasing he was going to get for this. Sol was not gentle once she got her teeth into something she found amusing. 

“I see sir,” the Lieutenant relaxed a little, apparently happy to have some sort of explanation about _why_ one of the military advisors to the Primarch was there. “I can take you over…”

“It’s fine,” he said waving her away as she started towards Admiral Shepard, “you get back to your men. I can handle this on my own.” The last was added with a bit of a glare over to the soldiers still accompanying him, but they ignored it with a level of professionalism he was almost envious of. At least they fell back a few paces once they actually reached her. Near enough to act if they needed to but not near enough to hear every detail that was said. Good. It would be easier that way. 

Admiral Shepard had noticed him coming of course. By the time they reached her location she was standing in a pose that was something at a hair less than attention. “Vakarian,” she said, giving a polite nod. Her voice was warmer than he had expected it to be which was a nice surprise. Evidently she really _was_ past the initial ‘I don’t like my daughter dating a turian’ thing. Which was good. Even if she wasn’t completely wild about it at least they were just going to have to deal with _one_ actively disapproving parent at a time. And he had better kill that train of thought now. He didn’t want to think about his father at the moment.

Especially since it really had nothing to do with the matter at hand. “Admiral,” he said with a nod back. “I didn’t expect to see you out here.” 

She shrugged, “I happened to be in the neighborhood,” she said in a overly clam way that made him fairly sure that was a lie. “And it is my duty as a rear-admiral to make sure that citizens remain safe. I think checking on the crash that comes shrieking down out of the sky into the middle of a city counts as part of that duty.” It sounded rehearsed, like she’d gone over the words several times in her head already. 

There were many things that he had learned about the older Shepard just by talking with her. Quite a few of them were actually fairly admirable. She just was _far_ , far too honest to be one of the smooth talking political types. He could see where Shepard got it from, although her mother seemed to be a little more…diplomatic than his Commander could be. 

“I see,” he said, trying to keep the amusement out of his sub-vocals. Maybe Admiral Shepard couldn’t pick up on it, but he was damn sure that his fellow turians would and he didn’t want them thinking he was laughing at an important human officer. “Things must _really_ be bad off at Alliance headquarters if even a rear-admiral is forced to do field work like this.” 

The scowl the Admiral gave him was serious enough that for a moment Garrus was sure that he’d messed up everything. Then her lip twitched and she smiled slightly. “Not that bad off just yet, Vakarian, and I know you’re aware of that. I’m just the kind of woman who likes to be down on the ground with her men, not leading from the rear.”

Given what Victus had been saying about her actions during the war, Garrus wasn’t at all surprised to hear that. “So is this some Shepard family trait then? Because I seem to recall a Commander that insisted she had to lead every mission personally.” Not that he thought it was a bad thing, not after what he had seen Lil accomplish, but he knew several turian officers that he had driven to distraction during his time on the Reaper Task Force because he had insisted on seeing operations out personally. After a certain rank a good officer was just supposed to focus on telling other people what to do. He couldn’t really speak much for Alliance standards but he doubted they were all that different. 

The Admiral crossed her arms. “What do you think? I’ve been told that my daughter might actually be a match for me when it comes to sheer stubbornness but it’s not a bet I’m willing to take just yet.” There was a slight quirk to her lips that spoke of it being a long standing joke with someone. It occurred to Garrus that before he wouldn’t even have noticed that much subtly in human expressions if it hadn’t been for his time on the Normandy and his relationship with Shepard. It wasn’t something he had consciously tried to pickup but he was glad for the skill right now. 

“I’ll take that as a warning,” he said, hoping that none of his own men were near enough to wonder about this conversation. “And I won’t ask anymore questions. Although I’m not sure what the rest of the crash team is going to make of you being here.” He was very, very curious as to why Admiral Shepard was being cagey about her reasons for being here but he didn’t want to push her either. Dealing with his father was going to be bad enough. He would rather not have to deal with an Admiral Shepard who had decided her daughter’s boyfriend was getting a little too pushy. 

“They probably think that I’m just another completely insane human,” the Admiral said mildly, “I’m actually surprised they allowed you near me at all.”

That brought his head up and choked back the first few replies he thought of to that little statement. “And why would that be?” he settled on asking. There was something behind that statement, he was sure of it. It didn’t sound like a joke and, after her work on the Crucible, he was willing to bet she wasn’t the sort to underestimate the non-human races. He just had a feeling that saying something like ‘What did you do’ wouldn’t exactly be diplomatic.

However the Admiral just gave a slight shrug. “I had to deal with an intruder,” she said with a straight face. “A few shots were fired. Luckily the only causality was a hover cam.” 

His initial alarm faded into a sort of exasperated amusement. “Ah. I wasn’t aware that ‘violence again reporters’ was a genetic trait in humans. I assume whoever it was should be grateful that you have a little more self control than your daughter.”

“You mean he should be happy I didn’t punch him?” Hannah chuckled, “I was tempted, but I’ve figured out two things in my career. One is that a gun is usually a bit more intimidating than a pair of raised fists. Two is that companies really don’t like things that cost them money. If I’d thrown a punch he might have found a way to wiggle out of his holding cell then screw up enough courage to come back. Whoever’s holding his leash might even encourage it, since even a punch like that is great publicity, especially when it involves someone with a reputation like Lil’s or mine. Destroy a piece of their equipment though? Suddenly sending someone back to bother me doesn’t seem like such a good idea.” 

“You are a scary woman,” Garrus had to admit, “and I really wish I had thought of that. It would have made things _so_ much easier.” It really was brilliant in a way. Employees could be replaced easily, but a good quality vidcam? What company would be willing to risk losing something like _that?_ It would cost them actual _money_. “And I’m guessing the officer in charge of the scene considered your actions a perfectly understandable use of force. Otherwise you wouldn’t even be talking with me without an escort.”

“Perfectly understandable, huh?” Hannah shook her head. “I’m not sure if I should be relived or scared by that.” Before Garrus could come backup with a reply. “Although I suppose we should talk about _this_ mess now before someone decides to come over and make sure we’re doing our jobs.” 

Garrus glanced over at the crater in reflex. He could see some Alliance vehicles far off on the other side holding a perimeter of some sort. Of course they would keep some presence of their own here, even when one of their allies was dealing with the clean up. If this had been Palaven, he imagined his own people would be doing the same. “Yes, we wouldn’t want the rank-and-file to think we weren’t complete and utter professionals, would we? It’s not like we have _anything_ else going for us.” Admiral Shepard gave him a look that seemed all to familiar then and he decided that maybe, just maybe, he should get on with it. 

“There isn’t that much to tell. It’s a ship that was all but destroyed in combat. There wouldn’t have been anyone alive when it came down so you don’t have to worry about that. Right now all that’s left is seeing if we can pull anything off the hardware left inside, then figuring out what to do with the scraps. Most of it will probably go toward repairing other ships.” At least that’s what the rather dry salvage reports had been telling him so far. Maybe this would be different because it’d suffered so much damage but that wasn’t going to be his call to make. “Unless there was something interesting that happened during the crash itself, I can’t imagine that anyone but the techs will be needed here much longer.” _Not that we were even needed here at all,_ a tiny traitorous part of his mind whispered. While he was pretty damn sure that Hannah Shepard hadn’t run here to avoid family problems, he was equally convinced that her reason for being out here was as bullshit as his own. 

She gave a curt nod at his words though. “That’s pretty much what we figured, but I’ll let the Alliance know,” she said, then let her eyes flicker up, towards the sky. “Although you have to realize this isn’t going to be the last bit of debris that’s going to come down.” 

He followed her gaze for a moment and found her watching him when he looked back down. “I suppose there is a lot of junk up there now,” he said slowly, trying to match her level of casual. It had occurred to him, once or twice, that leaving that much wreckage there was going to have it’s own set of consequences. Trashed ships had just seemed like a very minor concern when dealing with more pressing matters like, say, _survival_. “Normally I would say something about how we have other things to deal with at the moment but you seem to be pretty sure about this. You have intel that suggests it?” 

Garrus didn’t think that the Alliance would hide something that big and potentially deadly from their allies. Or at least, he would have thought that if he was the hopelessly optimistic sort of turian. As it was he wouldn’t be surprised if they were hiding something, even from their own allies, that were currently sharing the planet with him. After all, he wouldn’t put it past his _own_ people to do something like that. 

Thankfully all the rear-admiral gave him was a slight head shake. “Nothing concrete,” she admitted, “but experience tells me that fate or luck or whatever you want to call it, tends to start dumping shit on your head the moment you think things are running smoothly. I won’t deny the fact that we have more than enough to deal with on the ground but, like you said, there’s an awful lot of space debris up there at the moment and we’re having trouble tracking it. I have an uneasy feeling that at some point, more of it is going to come down, and I doubt it’s going to remain polite enough to only fall on areas we aren’t using.” 

Garrus tried _not_ to imagine a massive flaming hunk of metal coming down straight into the middle of a refugee camp somewhere on Earth. Unfortunately, his brain refused to turn off his rather excellent imagination. It was all to easy to picture what kind of carnage that would cause, especially in light of what they had just been though. “Not exactly a pretty picture,” he said out loud. “And normally I would be willing to do anything to avoid having more people killed. I just think that ‘gut feeling’ might not be accepted by our collective leaders.” 

“Probably not,” the Admiral Shepard agreed, “but they might listen when I tell them that we had little to no warning of _this_ coming down and that it’s going to happen again unless we get some sort of system in place. Probability means it’s going to hit a populated area sooner or later and if it gets out that the military knew but did nothing…” she trailed off ominously. 

“You know,” he couldn’t help but drawl, “for someone who seems to hate dealing with politics, you’re becoming eerily good at it.” Not that he really thought she had a choice in the matter. Even in the middle of a war, that tended to be one of the things that was either sink or swim. “I’ll bring it up to Victus when I see him again. He’d probably be willing to back you up anyway but, when you put it like _that_ , I think even our generals will be willing to see something is wrong.” 

 

“Good,” Admiral Shepard seemed to relax a fraction of an inch. “Having turian support will count for a lot in an official meeting. It might make people finally start to come up with some ideas on how to actually expedite the clean-up, instead of just clearing their throats and saying that while something needs to be done they aren’t sure what.” Garrus was going to reply to _that_ but then the Admiral smiled slightly. “And if you can pull that off I’ll even forgive you for calling me a politician. That is a deadly insult.” 

That made him blink and he bit back the first reply because he wasn’t sure how much of that was a joke or not. Instead he cleared his throat. “I’ll be sure to remember that.” That got him a small smile at least. He just wished it was one he could see on his Shepard’s face.

Almost as if she had been reading his _mind_ , which was a terrifying thought, the Admiral spoke up again. “So I take it my daughter has said pretty much the same thing?” 

“Not in so many words, no,” Garrus said, trying to keep his composure. “But the feeling was definitely there. A very strong feeling.” Not that Shepard had really needed to say it to him. Not after all they had been though together. 

“Somehow I’m not surprised by that,” the Admiral’s voice returned his attention to her. “Although, speaking of Lil…have you been to see her today? I’ve been so busy doing the run around for the Alliance that I haven’t had the time.” 

“That’s, ah, pretty much been the same with me,” Garrus said, feeling obscurely guilty that he hadn’t. He locked his hands behind his back to keep from fidgeting. Strange that a human would make him feel like a recruit again, and over something he had no control over. It was one thing to know that Commander Shepard _understood_ when it came to how much his duty was but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel guilty over it. He would have been out there earlier if they hadn’t got the message from field command about a ship coming down and a human admiral poking around the site. It was probably better not to let her know that though. “Time-wasting meetings, listening to every officer that feels the need to ramble on about things they know nothing about…you know how it is.”

“Believe me, I do,” Admiral Shepard sounded bitter about that. Garrus was curious about it but filed it away in the ‘things to ask later’ corner of his mind. He really, really didn’t want to make her regret giving them her indirect approval. “I’ll see if I can make time to get out of here later but I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it before it gets too late. Could you tell her I’m sorry, if that happens, when you see her?”

“Ah,” Garrus fumbled for a word to that, startled by her absolute certainty that he would be going, “Sure, that I can do.” He wasn’t sure if she was joking or not when it came to Lil. Or if she was trying to tease him in her own way over their relationship. And he was usually so good at reading people too. This was just one of those things he really, really didn’t want to mess up. His bad habit of over thinking every damn thing when he was this nervous still hadn’t gone away either. “So I take it that means you’re not going to be sticking around here much longer?” Which seemed to be something safe to say after that at least. 

“I do have to go back to my own job,” the Admiral agreed. “I’ve already missed one meeting already. I try to dodge anymore and Hackett will never let me hear the end of it.” She looked almost disappointed at that. 

“Ah,” he said out loud. “I take it that meeting happened at the same time our ship decided it was tired of fighting with gravity?” 

He counted it as a small victory that Admiral Shepard actually looked startled for a moment before she shrugged. “It…might have been. But having me there would just have been a waste of time. Overseeing this made much more sense. 

Of course they both knew that someone of her rank would never have been called out to something as relatively simple as this but he nodded anyway. He had been tempted to find ways out of useless meetings himself. He’d just never been able to come up with something _good_. “Of course. After all, _nothing_ could possibly compare to fireworks like that.” 

“Are you mocking me, Vakarian?” she said, but with no venom behind it. Then she shook her head. “In any case, I think I need to be heading back over to the Alliance if you’re sure you don’t need any assistance over here. There’s only so long I’ll be able to stall before they’ll start to lose patience with me and demand a report.”

Given how often he had seen Lil grumbling as she struggled though her own reports, he was more than willing to believe the Alliance was every bit as demanding as his own military was when it came to paperwork. Turians might claim they had the most ‘efficient’ military force but he was willing to bet on it being something like ‘best organized’. Efficient only seemed to work half the time. “We wouldn’t want that,” he said out loud. “Far be it from me to get in the way of wading though something as enjoyable as writing reports. You can head back. I doubt anything exciting is going to happen. If something unexpected does come up, we can deal with it. If we can’t, I’m sure you’ll hear about it.” Garrus wasn’t an absolute expert in politics but you didn’t have to be to realize that, even with everything else that was going on, someone in the Alliance would be keeping an eye out on the turian craft that had arrived so spectacularly in the city. 

“I had better, Advisor” was the reply from the admiral. He thought from her tone of voice that she was half-joking, but there was enough steel behind it that he really didn’t want to chance it. 

“Of course, Admiral,” he said, which caused Admiral Shepard to chuckle. 

“I suppose I’ll be seeing you later then,” she said as she left. Garrus was sure they were both thinking about the hospital, and the little room that held one of the most precious things to them both, when she said that. 

After Admiral Shepard left, there was still the task of trying to explain, to the officer in charge, just what the hell a human _admiral_ had been doing here. Not every turian knew the finer points of human command structure but all of them had been intelligent enough to realize that someone _that_ high-ranked shouldn’t have been troubling themselves with something this petty. He hoped his bullshit explanation about her having been coming from a different Alliance errand, and just deciding to do a surprise check on her men, held water. Most of the common soldiers seemed to accept that, after all it was the Advisor saying it and you were supposed to trust those above you, but he had a feeling the officer only half-believed what he was saying. 

“So you’re heading out now, Advisor?” she asked him after he was done briefing her and had received the latest report about what they had found down there. Which was really just more lists of causalities when it came down to it.

“Yes,” he said quickly. There really was nothing more for him to do here. He wouldn’t have minded actually helping the engineers take the ship apart, and dig though the data banks, but he had a _very_ strong feeling that everyone else wouldn't like that. After all, it went against the entire turian command structure. Not that they would actually question it, or really try to stop him, but it would probably make everyone else he was trying to work with uncomfortable. It would also probably piss off the older Generals but that would just have been a bonus. He just didn’t want some poor solider to pay the price because of _his_ interference. Better just to move on. He also wanted to see Shepard again. Check to make sure she really was doing all right. Miranda had said she would tell him if anything changed unexpectedly but he didn’t know what she would count as ‘unexpected’. “I was only here because there was a high ranking _human_ officer present and, since I have the most experience working on a human ship, it was felt that I would be the best at dealing with things before a …misunderstanding occurred.” 

The officer seemed to relax for a second and nodded. “Understood, Advisor,” she said. “Honesty, I’m not that good at dealing with humans myself. I worked with some of them during the war but I don’t think I ever had to deal with someone that high up. At least now I know I won’t have to worry about causing another… Incident.” 

Garrus gave an encouraging little click in his subvocabls. “I doubt you could have done that badly. Humans aren’t that complicated. They just…take some getting used to is all. It’s not that hard to talk to them.” 

0o0o0o0o0

He caught a transport out in the direction of the hospital as soon as he was able to escape from the crash site. The report he sent to Victus was very brief and to the point. Not that there was much for him to tell, really. Just something saying ‘Okay, I didn’t pick a fight with Commander Shepard’s mother and nothing sinister is going on.’ The next report would probably be a much more detailed one from the officer once the techs had finished pulling all the data they could. Which meant his mind was free to remind him that he still had other, very pressing, things to worry about. 

Like the whole ‘hey my xenophobic father is coming’ thing. Which he still had not come up with a good way to tell Shepard about. He wasn’t sure he even wanted to mention it to her, not when she was still recovering. _Of course, I really don’t have a choice._ The thought drifted into his head and he gave a small annoyed grunt. One of the guards, who he was still getting tired of dragging around, gave him an odd look. He hadn’t realized that he was leaking his anxiety into subvocals, and Garrus quickly cleared his throat as he clasped his mandibles tight to his face to avoid having them quiver in embarrassment. You would think he would know how to keep his emotions under control this late in the game. Advisors were supposed to be completely in command of themselves. Examples of what a good turian was. _And then there’s me,_ he thought to himself as they finally arrived at the medical area. _Damn, we’re down to the dregs, aren’t we?_ It was a very sobering thought. 

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Shepard was asleep when he finally reached her room. She was propped up slightly, eyes closed and her breathing even. He slid into a chair next to her bed using every ounce of stealth he knew to keep from disturbing her. Now that she actually had a chance to rest, and there wasn’t the risk of the Alliance coming up with some sort of crisis that only she could solve, he didn’t want to be the one to wake her up. There was still a part of him that wanted to shake her awake, just to prove to himself that she was awake this time, that she wasn’t still trapped in a coma.   
He held back that urge but he couldn’t stop himself from reaching forward to brush his fingers across the back of her hand. Even though she was awake, even though he knew she was fine, her hands still abnormally small and pale with the wires and tubes that had helped keep her alive leading away from it. At least her color was better than it had been then. He didn’t like to think about how washed out she had looked when they’d first brought her back. There had been a few seconds, ones that had seemed to stretch into an eternity for him, when he hadn’t been sure she was even still breathing. 

He was jerked out of those dark memories when Shepard’s hand twitched under his talons and suddenly her eyes flickered open. Damn. And here he thought he’d kept it light enough that his touch wouldn’t even register. It had been so long since he’d last really touched her that he must have underestimated how sensitive human skin was. 

“Garrus?” she muttered her voice sounding unusually thick. She blinked at him. “When the hell did you get here?”

“Just now,” he said. After a moments consideration, he just curled his fingers around her hand. She was already awake. He didn’t see what the point in pulling back would be. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to wake you.” There was a tiny part that acknowledged that, even though he wanted to see Shepard, when he had walked in and seen her just sleeping he had been relieved. After all, it was kind of hard to explain things that complicated and talking about _feelings_ had never been his strong suit. 

“Wake me..?” she stared at him in confusion long enough that he was about to get worried but then she spoke again. “I was _asleep?_ ” she said with enough force that he could just about feel her frustration. “But I was just talking with…” she growled to herself and he felt her hand curl into a fist. “God _damn_ it, I’m getting tired of that.” 

“Hey,” he said as gently as he could. This was one of those times where he wasn’t sure what to say to her. He knew Shepard, knew she didn’t want pity, but he couldn’t just say nothing to her when she had that sort of look on her face. “It’s only supposed to last for a little while, right? I’m sure no one who comes in here is going to say anything to the great Reaper Slayer if she decides to drift off in the middle of a conversation. Anyone that does complain probably isn’t worth talking to.” 

He hadn’t expected her to take that calmly, but she surprised him by chuckling. “Right. I’ll be sure to tell that to someone like Hackett if he comes by.”

“Go ahead,” Garrus said mildly. “I mean it. If someone can’t take the hint that maybe, juust maybe, saving every living thing in the galaxy and eradicating a race of nightmare machines is a little _exhausting_ , then they aren’t worthy of being in the same room as you.” 

“Very gallant, Garrus,” she said mildly, but pinned him with a sharp stare he just knew meant trouble. “If you want to be any more noble, you can do something useful…like convincing _someone_ I’m not that fragile and can handle being connected to the outside world.” He must have given her a blank look because she sighed. “I mean I want my omnitool back. I’m getting tired of hearing everything second-hand.” 

He stared at her for a moment. Not that he was completely unaware _someone_ was holding back on handing Shepard her omnitool, but he hadn’t realized she would start taking issue with it so soon.  
Then again, this was Shepard he was talking about. He probably should have been more surprised that it took her this long to bring it up.   
“You know,” he said, when he finally found his voice again. “most people would be using this as a chance to relax. Let everyone else worry about the galaxy for once, Shepard. You can’t even get out of bed.” 

“That doesn’t mean my _brain’s_ asleep,” Shepard said, in a stubborn voice that he knew all to well, “and I don’t appreciate being coddled. A ship crashed into the city and I didn’t even here about it until Vega accidentally let something slip.” She pulled her hand away from his, “I’m not that weak, Garrus. I’m not so fragile that a bit of bad news is going to break me.” 

He wondered who in the _hell_ had let that little piece of news slip to her. It wasn’t going to help Shepard much if she started hearing about every disaster that happened outside the hospital. They were supposed to be keeping things quiet for her….although, judging by the look she was giving him, that was exactly the problem. Resting quietly wasn’t exactly a trait she was remembered for.

“I’m not worried about it breaking you,” he said. Shepard didn’t like being confined to bed and she was staying awake long enough that now she was bored, with too much time to think. “I’m worried that you’ll feel like you have to do something about it. You try to take the responsibility for everything and when you’re trapped in a bed that’s a little hard to do.”

“So I should just sit here like a good girl?” she snapped back. “At least when the Alliance had me locked up, I still had limited access to the outside. Now, everyone seems to be working together to keep me more out-of-the-loop than when I was in prison.” 

Garrus knew that at least half of her venting was a distraction from how helpless she was. He didn’t even want to think of what it must be like for her now. She could clear a battlefield by herself and now she could barely even sit up. If he was in her position he doubted he would be able to keep his temper in check either. 

“Well, since you’re not in prison maybe I can get Miranda to hand over your omnitool,” he said soothingly, “but only if you promise me you won’t try to play hero again until the doctors give you the okay to get out of bed.”

Shepard gave him a look. “Do you really believe that I would…”

“Yes,” he said, cutting her off, “I do think you would do that. You would find _some_ way to do the impossible _again_ , no matter what happens to you in the process. Remember when Dr. Chakwas threatened to tie you down in the infirmary because you wouldn’t rest like she ordered you too?” 

“That was _once_ Vakarian,” she snapped back, and tried to sit up, only to slump back against her pillow. “I can’t even walk right now. Even I’m not stubborn enough to try jumping out of bed and dancing around just yet.” 

“If you can even call what you do dancing,” Garrus couldn’t help but drawl, although he quickly sobered when he saw the look on Shepard’s face. “And you know that isn’t the point.”

“I get it, all right,” Shepard said. “You’re trying to make sure I don’t have to worry about anything.” She gestured around the room. “But then I end up trapped in here, wondering what in the hell is so bad that you don’t even want me to know about it. That’s not really relaxing.” 

Garrus knew he could say a lot about how there wasn’t anything really _that_ bad going on right now. At least nothing a galaxy saving _hero_ needed to be concerned about. He just knew her well enough to know that words wouldn’t make any difference. This wasn’t something that could be solved so easily. Honestly, in her place he would feel much the same. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t been trying to hold anything back from her, she hated being in a vulnerable position. He imagined that finding out everything, even her own body, was out of her control at the moment wasn’t exactly the most pleasant sensation. Platitudes weren’t really going to help even if she believed them. She was probably more likely to become more sure than ever that they were keeping something from her. 

“And if we use that argument against Miranda, we might actually get her to listen to us,” he said instead. Shepard looked over at him in surprise.   
“So you’re actually going to help?” she said, “and here I thought you were going to be part of the ‘keep Shepard sheltered’ brigade.” 

He reached out and reclaimed here hand. Even though he couldn’t really feel that much through his gloves, the contact was still soothing. “You know I always have your back, Shepard.” Granted this was a small, small, thing compared to everything else they had been though but he wasn’t about to force her to deal with it alone. “And besides, I shudder to think of the damage you would cause if I left you alone, bored, annoyed, and restless.”

“Damage? Me?” Shepard actually cracked a smile at that. “Even though I’m confined to a bed?” 

“I’m sure you could find a way,” Garrus flared his mandibles in a grin. “You’ve never let the phrase ‘impossible’ stop you before now. Better for us to be safe than sorry.” 

Either the promise of being able to have an omnitool was making her feel better, or Shepard was starting to feel tired, but she relaxed slightly. “I’m going to hold you to that promise. But if I don’t see an omnitool here soon I’ll start to raise hell again.”

“Duly noted,” Garrus drawled, then drew his mandibles in. “Now, in all seriousness, how do you feel?” 

She looked as if she wanted to say something else, but finally sighed. “Same as yesterday I guess,” she shifted a little, “I still feel like hell. It’s not as bad as it was before, but it’s still there. Still getting tired without doing anything, still can’t sit up on my own.” He felt her hand twitch, and the one he wasn’t holding curled into a fist. 

“You’re recovering,” he pointed out, “even Miranda is saying you’re improving faster than anyone thought would be possible.” There was a moment of silence after that, and the soft beeping of the machines that surrounded them seemed to give life to his words. Yeah, there were fewer of them around than before, but they were still present. He tried to not mention them, tried to ignore them, but you couldn’t shut them out completely. 

“I know what the doctors are saying,” she said and sighed. “I just don’t feel it from where I’m laying.”

“Shepard, would any recovery speed but ‘magically instantaneous’ really be fast enough for you?” 

She seemed to pause to think for a moment. “No,” she admitted at last. “Just ignore all the grumbling, Garrus. I’m just a bit….”

“Frustrated?” he finished for her. “I doubt I would be any better if I was in your position, Shepard. I get it. After everything we’ve been though, I know when you’re just venting, and when you’re being serious.” He flared his mandibles in a grin and tried to keep his voice neutral. Shepard wasn’t…fragile exactly. At least not anymore. Physically she was still very much recovering but at least she didn’t look like she could fade away at any second. Now she was just…exhausted he supposed was the right word for it. Not just the whole falling asleep in the middle of the conversation thing either, although that did have him concerned. He couldn’t even bring himself to be surprised by it though, not after the war and knowing first hand how little sleep she would try to get away with. 

Maybe it would be a good idea to wait a bit to tell her about the whole ‘dad is coming to visit’ thing. At least for another couple of days. She would probably have her omnitool back by then, and maybe feel a bit more in control. 

“..Thanks,” Shepard said, derailing his train of thought. He was actually happy about that. It was easier to lie to himself when he wasn’t thinking too hard about it. “For being here,” she continued. “Even when I’m being a pain in the ass.” 

“Considering how often you’ve put up with me being just as bad? This is nothing Shepard. I always have your back, remember?” He’d told her that many times before, but he felt like saying it again. It was a promise he’d made to himself a long time ago, when she’d pulled him out of the ruins of Menae. He was through being away from her side, wondering if him being there could have changed something. Now he was going to fight to make sure he could stay by her side. 

Even if, a part of him realized, it meant fighting with his own father over this again. Ah well, it wasn’t like that was anything knew, even if he had come to terms with the old man recently. He felt his mandible draw tight to his face as he considered just how badly his own father would erupt when he found out about Shepard. All Garrus could hope for was that it took place somewhere away from her. He didn’t want her feeling responsible for the actions of a single, stubborn, turian. 

“Garrus?” Shepard was looking up at him a frown on her face. “I’m grateful for you being here, but are you all right? You’re tense.” She gave his hand a small squeeze. 

“It’s nothing,” he said quickly, very much not wanting to talk about it. Thankfully he had a way to get around that conversation this time. “Just remembered I have a message from your mother. She’s going to try coming by later, but well, she isn’t sure that she’ll be able to get away.” He said it as lightly as he could. As if he was just announcing the weather. 

It took Shepard a good second to figure out what he had said, and then the look on her face was highly entertaining. It always impressed him how expressive and flexible humans could be. Her eyes widened for a moment, then her eyebrows pinched together a little in a way he was overly familiar with as she frowned slightly, but then she just smirked a little at him. “You talked with Mom?” she said instead. “Outside of this room? Willingly? I didn’t know the two you were so buddy-buddy. And here I was worrying that the two of you wouldn’t get along.”

“Ah yes, we have so much in common. Meeting over your hospitable bed was such a great bonding experience,” Garrus couldn’t help saying. “I wouldn’t say the two of us are fast friends just yet, but at least she seems to have decided I’m not completely and utterly evil.” 

“Baby steps, huh?” Shepard shifted a little, and he let go of her hand to readjust one of the pillows behind her head. 

“Better?” 

She gave a little nod in reply and settled back again. “So what, you and Mom ran into each other…somewhere? Because it couldn’t have been in the hospital, not if she told you to give me _that_ message.” 

He gave what he hoped looked like a nonchalant shrug. “We just ran into each other when we were checking on that ship crash site from earlier. Since you came up in the conversation, she just asked if I would pass along the message.”

“…What crash site?” Shepard tried to sit up again, and this time actually managed to proper herself up on her elbows. Garrus immediately jumped up and hovered over her. 

“Shepard, you shouldn’t..” he started to say, but she gave him that familiar stubborn look. 

“What crash site?” she repeated, “and why were both you and Mom there?” He could hear it in her voice, that instinctive worry about what a rear-admiral from the Alliance and a turian that, despite what he thought about it, was a very high-ranking turian were doing meeting over something that routine. 

Damn it. Maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned any specifics. “You’ll only get an answer if you lay down. You aren’t going to get out of bed any faster if you push yourself like that.” 

He thought she was going to argue but after a piercing look she lowered herself back down into the pillows. The machines stopped beeping so alarmingly then. “Fine. Spill it Vakarian.” 

“First of all, I wouldn’t really classify it as a crash,” he said quickly. “More like space debris deciding that thought it would see what Earth was like – very up close and personal.” 

Shepard looked confused for a moment, but she was smart. He saw it click in her eyes then, and she nodded thoughtfully. “They call it a ship crash, but it was already a wreck before it came down?”

“Yeah,” he said, “but I guess ‘destroyed in battle first’ didn’t sound nearly as dramatic. It’s turian, too, by the way. Not much the Alliance has left to do. I’ll be surprised if the newscasts even remember about it by tomorrow.” 

“Okay, it was a turian ship,” she said. “So that’s why they sent you.” Was what she said, but he heard the confusion of just _why_ it was him that went in her voice. She kept talking though, “but that doesn’t explain what my _mother_ was doing wandering around. Was it a turian ship carrying state secrets or something?” 

“Ah, no, not this one,” he said, “it was a normal vessel. I was only there because your mother was there. It makes the soldiers feel more at ease when someone high-ranking shows up to deal with the human rear-admiral. I didn’t want...something happening because there was no one familiar with humans on-scene.” Then he shrugged. “Your mother, on the other hand, really didn’t seem like she wanted to tell me why was there. All she said was that she happened to be in the area and decided that investigating the crash was more useful than…whatever the hell else she had been doing. She did say she might have been dodging Alliance meetings, but I really didn’t feel like pushing her for anymore information beyond that. Might have made things a bit more tense than they are now.” He didn’t add that Shepard would probably be able to figure out her mother’s motives better than he could. He had some guesses, of course, but he didn’t think it was that big of a deal. 

“Knowing Mom, you wouldn’t have gotten anything out of her even if you had pushed. Once she doesn’t want to talk about something, that’s pretty much it,” Shepard said with an air of conviction and _experience._

“That sounds so familiar,” he couldn’t help drawling, “I wonder where I’ve seen that before.” 

“Shut it Garrus,” she said, but grinned all the same. It was a bit more strained than he was used to, but at least she was calmer now. Although now she was giving him a scrutinizing look that suddenly made him feel like he was on a battlefield again. “All right, you’ve listened to my complaining. Now it’s your turn. You’ve been acting off since you got here.” 

“Ah, I’m sure that’s your imagination, Shepard,” he said quickly in response to that. He hadn’t realized that he was being that obvious. And here he thought he could have been a decent actor if he tried. 

“Bullshit,” she said flatly, “you have that look you get when you see a report that you don’t want to talk about. Something else happened, didn’t it?” 

Since Garrus hadn’t even known he _had_ a look like that, he flicked his mandibles in surprise a for a moment before he swallowed. “It was nothing..” he started to say, only to realize how bad that particular choice of words was when he saw the way she frowned.   
“Don’t say ‘nothing important.’ Do you really think that’s going to work on me?” she said flatly. “Didn't we just get through with the ‘please don’t hide information from me’ discussion? I’ll just come up with worse-case scenarios until you tell me the truth.” 

There was a ton of things that sprang to mind when she finished speaking. Any number of things that Garrus knew he could say instead of bringing up the whole deal with his father. He was tempted to use one of them. Although, even if it was going to worry her, maybe it was best just to get it out into the open. They had faced everything from Reapers to Collectors together. They could probably deal with one crusty old turian if they were prepared for it. 

“Your mother was worried that there might be other space debris coming down,” he found himself saying instead, despite that resolve. “There’s an awful lot of it up there after the battle, and not all of it is going to be nice enough to stay where it is.” And that was probably going to be a bit more stressful than knowing his father was coming. He really should have learned when to keep his mouth shut by now.

“If we get all that coming down, then it won’t just be confined to uninhabited areas,” Shepard was saying, the worry in her voice almost making him wish. _Damn._ “We have to…”

“You have to rest. Focus on getting out of bed _before_ you try to take on the galaxy again,” he said, cutting her off. “Your mother is already taking care of it. She wants me to bring it up with Victus, and then hopefully the two of them can convince the…well, the Council-that-is-not-the-Council that we really should be doing something about it.” 

“You really think they’re going to listen to that?” was the very dry reply. 

“Your mother seems to think we can _shame_ them into it,” he shrugged at the look Shepard gave him in response to that little statement. “Don’t worry, I think with as many various races as we have stranded here right now, at least someone will be logical for once.”

Shepard didn’t seem to fully believe that and Garrus couldn’t blame her. Especially after all the crap she’d been though. He just hoped he could get her to forget about this fairly soon. Or at least distract her from worrying about it. Which, since it was Shepard, wasn’t going to be easy. 

At least it was something he could focus on. That way he wasn’t thinking of anything else. Like what was going to happen when he finally saw his father again and why it was easier for him to tell his girlfriend about potentially deadly crashes than it was for him to tell her that his father was coming to visit.

**Author's Note:**

> My Shepard always had the Spacer background, and it lead me to wondering what her mother would think of Garrus, since I always romanced him. I decided to write this since I have a weakness for awkward 'meet the parents' stuff.   
> The ME ending I'm using for this one really doesn't follow any of the canon ones. It's half indoctrination theory inspired and half what I thought up on my own for my Shepard.   
> I'm amused that I actually got this done on Mother's Day, considering the subject matter. I don't see a lot of fics dealing with Hannah Shepard. 
> 
> I noticed as I was posting this that I had all the characters calling her Admiral, even though I'm pretty sure the game gave her rank as Rear Admiral now. I know that it's a different rank, but I'm not sure if it would change how she would be addressed. I know next to nothing about military matters, so feel free to correct me if I made a mistake with that.


End file.
